The 2008 Metal Mix

2008 was an odd year for heavy metal releases. Most of the prominent releases were from well established "brand name" bands and, for the most part, the results were not good. Children of Bodom, Edguy, Avantasia, AC/DC, Guns 'N Roses and many others all released mediocre albums this year that more or less fell flat with both myself and fans.

But that's not to say that there weren't several outstanding releases and comebacks this year.
COMEBACKS in order of awesome:
- In Flames A Sense of Purpose - Its about time these guys found a way to merge their newer, more mature work with the fantastically melodic Gothernburg warhammer that is their backcatalog.
- Motörhead Motörizer - Every few albums, Lemmy and the boys put out a killer slice of rock and roll. This should hold us over for a few more years, let's hope Lemmy's body does too.
- Metallica Death Magnetic - Most of my friends who have given this album even the slightest chance agree with me when I say that it is one of thier best efforts and gets better with each listen. This CD is really the cornerstone of the year in heavy metal for me.

So without further ado, here's the tracklist you'll be wanting to burn to drown out the family this Christmas:

1. Prophecy - Judas Priest Nostradamus
2. Tides of Blood - Into Eternity The Incurable Tragedy
3. All Nightmare Long - Metallica Death Magnetic
3. Monolith - Ihsahn angL
4. Chiron - All That Remains Overcome
5. Live For the Kill - Amon Amarth Twilight of the Thunder God
6. Crucify The King - Iced Earth The Crucible Of Man (Something Wicked Part II)
7. The Lotus Eater - Opeth Watershed
8. Heroes - Motörhead Motörizer
9. Fire Lances of the Ancient Hyperzephyrians - The Sword Gods of the Earth
10. Alias - In Flames A Sense Of Purpose
11. E=MC2 - Ayreon 01011001
12. Suicide & Redemption - Metallica Death Magnetic

First Snow, Nov. 2008

I woke up to this this morning.

From Drop Box

The very second I uploaded my new, ultra swank and trendy hipster facebook photo, I can targeted with this ad along the side. Beacon knows I'm a prick.

'That's my cat!' says man with bat - Boston.com

'That's my cat!' says man with bat - Boston.com

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Socks on orange placemats down 12%!

I just saw this in the sidebar of a NYT's article. Apparently, rolls of paper are down only slightly less than gray-teal socks, and are a "winner" because of this.

Ok, so the full graph makes some sense, but it begs the question: Who do they think they're fooling by slapping the word "multimedia" all over the Times' site?

New Watchmen trailer....

The new trailer for Zack Snyder's Watchmen furthers some of my hopes - and more of my doubts - about the film. The good news: it looks like it's going to be a serviceable, deep, action/adventure flick. The bad: it's not going to be nearly as good as Watchmen should be. I shouldn't complain though, at least everything looks right.

State House Multimedia Bonanza!

I was busy today. One event = 2 videos and 2 photo slideshows. Since the SHNS is subscription only, you miss out on my terrible multimedia page design, but oh well.
Slideshow #1:

Slideshow #2:

Video #1: is pending, actually...

Video #2:

In which I make fun of John Mcain's age...

From Sunday's edition of Meet the Press:

Brokaw, on polls showing a widening lead for Barack Obama: "I know you're a film buff, so let me begin with a film metaphor. Do you feel more like Kevin Costner in the 'Field of Dreams,' or like George Clooney at the tiller of the ship in 'A Perfect Storm'?"

McCain: "I think that I could draw my own, and I'd have to think of it, maybe 'The Gipper.' I feel like Knute Rockne at halftime when he said, 'You go out there and get one for the Gipper.' And look, those polls have been consistently shown me much further behind than we actually are. It all depends on the voter turnout model."

Brokaw, who is 68, mentions a 19 year old film, and an eight year old film. John McCain, 72, feels that the national TV audience would better associate with a film as old as his interviewer.

Calvin sows seeds of dissent 8 days out...

Boston Government Examiner for 10/14/08

The axe is about to fall on the 2009 Mass. budget.

SHNS Weekly Roundup for 10/10/08 - [Expletive] [Expletive]

Start collecting recipes for shoe leather, folks. We're in for some bad times a'comin'.

Quote!

A Boston Globe article on Amherst, NH resident Peggy Silva, the woman who submitted the "What don't you know and how will you learn it?" question at Tuesday night's debate, contained her response to Tom Brokaw's comment that the question was "zen-like."

"I'm the least Zen-like person on the planet," Silva said with a laugh in a telephone interview yesterday. "I'm chaotic, I'm disorganized, and I giggle." [emphasis mine.]

LolCampaigns

Media criticism doesn't have to be smart.

I forgot I had a blog again.

Testing out if google docs lets me publish straight to the blog....

I forgot I had a blog. This will be great for procrastination.