Lately I’ve been listening to Dan LeSac vs Scroobius Pip. On there album there’s a song called “Thou Shalt Always Kill” it’s a very good lyric and song but there is a bit in the middle that goes like this
“Thou shalt not put recording artists on ridiculous pedestals no matter how good they are or were once were.
The beatles were just a band, Led Zeppelin were just a band
It goes on like that through various bands. But that got me to thinking were bands such as Led Zeppelin, the Sex Pistols, The Beatles and Rolling Stones just band or were they something more. The Sex Pistols and Rolling Stones especially for me stand out as more than just a band. They are almost the embodiment of a time in history and a mood in the country. The Stones and Beatles were the flag bearers of the swinging sixties. The Stones at Altamount could be said to have been the end of the sixties. (Appropriate that it was to Sympathy for the Devil). The Sex Pistols were one of the pioneers of punk and that movement made the earlier bands such as The Who, Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones look like the old dinosaurs. Those older bands had become very technical and were doing twenty minute drum and guitar solos. The younger fans coming up didn’t want that. They wanted quick, fast two minute songs to jump around to.
Surely they were more than just a band they started a fashion trend and were one of the epicentres of a cultural movement. The same has happened throughout music history, from the pioneers such as the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. They were superseded by punk and bands like the Ramones, Sex Pistols and Clash. These in turn were replaced by the new wave of British heavy metal led by Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. This list could go on through the different versions and bands that were more than just popular but defined a period, by the way they dressed the content of their lyrics and the way that they represented themselves to the public.
I don’t think that it is fair to these bands to say that they were just a band. A lot of bands are just bands but some go beyond that and become a representation of an atmosphere and period in history. These bands are an important part of history and even shaped part of it. For example if it wasn’t for glam and hair metal in the 80’s then there would be no such thing as parental advisory labels on cds. A small example but still it does show how these bands have had an influence on society.
Just a band or were they?
Affliction Clothing
Someone asked me a while ago why I thought this was such a cool brand. It is very expensive and I can’t say one way or the other about the quality of their products. I mean it is more $70+ for a t-shirt and $700 for a leather jacket which seem to be at best an acquired taste. And to be honest I was at a loss for words and arguments as to why this brand was cool and worth the money.
But then I started thinking about it why I think this brand is so cool and I have an answer. You can tell a football fan by the clothes they wear and the team by their jersey. You can tell what sports or stereotype people fit into by the clothes they wear. That is why affliction clothing is cool to me. It’s the equivalent to a biker wearing his colours. Affliction are like rock musics and mma’s jerseys. Both rock music and mma are about attitude and excess. That’s why the clothes have to be expensive, when you buy them you have to feel you are buying a glimpse into the rock/mma lifestyle and you can’t do that in a shirt that costs $20 at WalMart. Just look at the promo vid for them
It’s a whos who of rockstars, mma stars and extreme sports stars. Affliction is building an
image as an edgy extreme brand that is running on attitude and excess and people seem to be buying in to it. Otherwise they’d have gone bust by now.
Something Wrong here?
Is there something wrong there……I find the T-shirt not disturbing but a bit odd .
GTA IV
I’ve been playing this game for 3-4 weeks now and much to my surprise it does live up to the hype. So how to start a post about a game that really is a contender for the best game ever. So I suppose the best way to satart off is with a little background information about the game and its main character.
You assume the role of Niko Belic, a hardened eastern European war veteran. Who is “conflicted” he’s very good at killing people and doing all the dirty jobs for all the biggest scumbags in Liberty City. He’s a similar main character and yet different. Previous characters have all had these similar traits of starting off in a new city trying to build a new empire or just survive. However Niko is different he has come to Liberty City on a mission of vengeance. Looking for people who have betrayed him in the past. This is different as there is some justification and reason for Niko’s actions. He’s searching for answers to why some events happened in his past. Throughout the game this becomes more apparent as this GTA is much more of a non stop killing spree as previous games have been. With the setting up business’s being removed. Also new is that you are given the chance to be compassionate in the game by choosing not to kill some of the more minor characters and low rent criminals.
The introduction of the friend system is good and bad. With it adding to the overall effect of the game and helping to establish Niko as a different character. The bad part is that if you are trying to clear missions and progress through the story of the game, you have people calling and texting you to hang out. It can be annoying and distracting especially when they call you during missions. And I’m still undecided whether its a good or bad addition to the series.
The driving and firing systems have been drastically changed as well. The driving system is greatly improved from the crazy powersliding that has been a trademark for the series to date. The system once you’ve gotten used to it is a great improvement. It requires much more tactical and strategic planning of routes while trying to get away from enemies or police. The firing system much improved with auto aim being much quicker and manual aim being easier to use. The best improvement however is the cover system which allows you to keep up the rate of fire keeping your health up. The way your victims react when they are shot is more realistic as well with the victim falling down if you shoot their legs or grabbing their shoulders if they are hit in the chest area. It’s not perfect but a vast improvement on the previous shoot once and they turn into Olympic sprinters.
The wanted system can be a bit confusing as to why you get certain wanted stars but it is much more fun than previous versions. With more thought and use of side streets and alley ways required to lose wanted levels. The spray shops are better as well as they won’t re-spray the car if the cops see you going in. The police are also more likely to “swarm” you as the wanted level goes up, going from one to three stars can mean going from one car to over twenty.
It’s one of the best games I’ve ever played.
I’d give the game a 9.5 out of 10.
It loses the half mark for just the sheer stress annoyance levels that some of the missions generate.
Cars
What’s going on there’s no Top Gear. Where is the summer season? I want Top Gear with more races between the boys and crazy challenges.
But anyway while checking the Ferrari website I notices they have a new car due for release in 2009. The “Ferrari California” and it can only be described as a masterpiece See,
This is the second car from Ferrari to bear the California name, the first a 50’s/60’s cruiser that was also a masterpiece.
Cars like these are the reason Ferrari’s are so cool. Theres a sense that they could make an affordable cruiser fro the ordinary Joe soap but they don’t want to, it’s beneath them. Ferrari’s would lose there appeal if everybody had them or could have them. It’d be like having a a Merc, they have an exclusivity of a sorts but they are fairly common. Ferrari, Lambourgini and Bugatti don’t do that there customers are the worlds elite, the oil barons and billionaires of the world.
Ferrari are my favourite car maker. Check out the website for the new California here
Something to pass Some time
The question is what though, writing about music gets boring especially given that theres never really any very interesting new news. Tabloids are boring because I really don’t care about celebrities and find it very strange that people can have such an obsession with them. Especially lately when the term generic seems to describe all of them very well. I also don’t read broadsheets as I find they are too serious and generally very boring to read.
So what is there to write about, I could take a link out of John’s book and post up links and videos. But I don’t particularly like that because well I like to write. So that leaves me with commenting on various daily show videos or inventing my own news.
My own News:
Now there is an interesting Idea, what would the world be like if I was in charge and controlling the worlds media with an Iron Fist. The world would be a lot more interesting and random. For Example
Breaking News:
The world is in shock today as former president George “Duubya” Bush admitted that there never really were any weapons of mass destruction. And that the whole Iraqi war was just an excuse to give his Daddy’s friends (“Dubbya Senior”) huge oil and construction contracts. Even more shocking was that “Dubbya” announced minutes later that his brother did rig the voting in Florida during the 2000 election.
See isn’t that a lot more interesting than Bertie’s finances or who was seen out with Justin Timberland. It’d be great craic, and a fun newsroom more akin to a comedy scriptwriters club. Plus I’d have a great break room with TV, video games and free food.
Well I think thats enough daydreaming for now, it would be cool though.
What other options are there I haven’t seen any new movies in the last few weeks to share my thoughts on that have not been extensively covered and reviewed in the media (Iron Man and Indiana Jones). Some movies I’m looking forward to however are “The Dark Knight” , “Kung Fu Panda” and the new Bond movie. Also I’ve heard rumours of a new Punisher movie. Unfortunately Thomas Jane is not returning as Frank Castle, personally I thought he was great in the first one. Other movies that I think might be worth a look are “Tropic Thunder” and “Don’t mess with the Zohan”. Tropic Thunder mainly for the brilliant skit at the recent MTv Movie awards and Zohan because its Adam Sandler
So enough pointless rambling I’ll post up a new entry Saturday/Sunday about a band I’m going to see on Friday.
Voodoo!
Recommended Books
The bookstore in town cleverly named “The Book Centre”, they have these recommended books of the month in the different categories/genres. Which allows you to but the book bring ti home and read it at your own leisure. If you don’t like the book, you can bring it back with your receipt for a full refund.
The majority of people would think that this is a system that is open to abuse, with people bringing back books whether they enjoyed them or not. But that does not seem to be the case. The idea/scheme has been running for over a year now and it’s cool.
It’s cool that the someone in the book centre is recommending these books and allowing the public to bring back books jsut because they didn’t like it.
Not a great post I know with some very bad phrasing, but I just think thats its a great idea and should be adopted in more places
Anyone know if other places operate a scheme like this?
Where all this stuff came from
I jut imported all this from my old blog available at http://00-rock.blogspot.com
Superhero
Your results:
You are Green Lantern
Green Lantern
70%
The Flash
60%
Iron Man
60%
Supergirl
55%
Robin
52%
Superman
50%
Batman
45%
Hulk
45%
Wonder Woman
35%
Spider-Man
30%
Catwoman
15%
Hot-headed. You have strong
will power and a good imagination.
