Beneath The Outer Shell

this is truly unbelievable. as a white man living in America where i grew up constantly being reminded that i owe our fellow black man because of slavery, i feel sick. John Sidney McCain and Sarah Lousie Palin have gone out of their way to make sure that their campaign never even comes close to using the race card. the truth is, aside from the constant double standard of the "N" word debate, as white men and women, we have to dance around words to the utmost precision to avoid being called a racist. especially during this election season, we are constantly on guard due to the fear of being called a racist. that British jerk-face Russell Brand on the MTV Awards the other day said that if you don't support a black man for president, then you are racist. hey Russell...brush your greasy hair, and for God's sake...brush your filthy teeth...(and use Colgate Total because it's the best)...and i'll send ya back home where you belong if you hate America so much. these so-called comedians i used to enjoy, like Jon Stewart and David Letterman, are more afraid to make any real joke about Barack Hussein Obama...because they know they may be labeled as a racist. hey...i understand...when you're weak...you're weak.

but remember...it was Barack Hussein Obama who first said the following in regards to how the other side will try to win:

We know what kind of campaign they’re going to run. They’re going to try to make you afraid. They’re going to try to make you afraid of me. He’s young and inexperienced and he’s got a funny name. And did I mention he’s black?

thanks Barack Hussein Obama! you succeeded in "playing the race card" in a campaign where you have already clearly been identified as a sexist due to your attacks on Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sarah Louise Palin. and ya know what...i will continue to use your middle name, Barack Hussein Obama...why? because that's what presidents do in case you haven't noticed. in fact i may even change my middle name to Hussein too!

and now this in regards to playing the race card...i'm literally sick to my stomach today because of what i just saw on CBS and found here in this article. the governor of New York, a blind black democrat by the name of David Paterson said the following:

I think the Republican Party is too smart to call Barack Obama 'black' in a sense that it would be a negative. But you can take something about his life, which I noticed they did at the Republican Convention – a 'community organizer.' They kept saying it, they kept laughing. I think where there are overtones is when there are uses of language that are designed to inhibit other people's progress with a subtle reference to their race.

what? what? what? now we cannot even call someone whose main accomplishment was that he was a community organizer a community organizer without a black man accusing us of playing the race card? what? what? what?

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?

there are already numerous opinions and anticipations that there will be mass race riots if Barack Hussein Obama is not elected, as is the case with this co-called columnist whose name is Fatimah Ali in this article here. typical...if your candidate doesn't win, then you will cry foul and act a fool. whoops, was THAT racist? bite me!

sounds like a bunch of sour grapes if ya ask me. remember in 2000 when the left refused to admit defeat for a month while you and i paid for those people to count ballots by hand while the economy was sinking? Bush won every time we counted, and we wasted money because of sour grapes. and remember in 2004, when the "Bush cheated in Ohio" campaign started again? sour grapes again. hey i understand...when you're a baby...you're a baby.

bottom line...the Barack Hussein Obama campaign is desperate and losing as of today. who knows who will win in November (even though if Hillary was on a ticket, the election would be over already) but regardless...the country is far from ever being united on any sense...and the Barack Hussein Obama supporters are sure to keep it that way.

take it from me. i am the result of my actions. we all are, whether we want to accept it 100% or not. i have made mistakes in my life and i am forced to deal with them everyday. there is a new threat that has been around, is easily available, and is totally legal in many states at the moment...including Georgia.

it's called Salvia Divinorium, and here is an article about it that came out yesterday about the "potential medical benefits". when i hear people talk about medical benefits in the same sentence as extreme psychotropic drugs without the advice of professionals...i do nothing but worry about a generation of kids thinking it's okay to self medicate. the fact is...no, i don't think drugs should be legal. people who are raised in an environment where they are more prone to use drugs as a coping mechanism don't get any advice from "professionals"...and when it comes to your mental health, you need nothing but advice before making bad decisions that could affect the rest of your life. mental health is something people take for granted, until they lose it. take it from me...i have experienced it, i have seen it time and time again with friends, and i worry about the kids i don't have yet as a result.

Salvia Divinorium is a scary drug with intoxicating effects that cannot be fully understood. the immediate effects after ingesting it have been linked to peyote, DMT, PCP, and the strength of the LSD available in the 1960's. if you think this is a cool thing, you should seek help...once again, take it from me. yes i've tried Salvia Divinorium, and i've tried it more than a few times. at first, i thought it was "cool" because it was so strong and intoxicating and it was and is as i write this completely legal to buy and own, at least here in Georgia. i went to all my friends and told them to try it, wrote about it, and thought it was the best thing since sliced bread! why wouldn't it be okay for me? here's why: you should be very concerned with any drug that suggests you have a sober sitter sitting next to you when you take it. now, why would they put that on the packaging itself? think about that "warning" for a minute. where else would you see that kind of warning? the fact is, you need someone to watch over you just in case you want to do something stupid, like jump out of a window or shoot yourself in the face like a guy reportedly did here hidden in this article suggesting the "potential medical benefits" that stemmed this blog. Salvia Divinorium is NOT to be messed around with. youtube is filled with videos of users getting high on it...for me, watching people laugh, fall down, and talk about insanity after taking it doesn't make me laugh...it makes me very concerned.

people who swear by marijuana say they will be "high till i die". i've been there. i understand that kind of talk. i've even said that...when i was HIGH! and i struggle everyday with it too as a result. but that philosophy makes me cringe with serious concern too. i wonder what their real potential in life could have been, if it weren't for a drug known to demotivate individuals to the point of being a lifelong loser with one thing always on their mind. sure we can talk about "moderation" until our ears fall off. i don't wanna hear about people who are able to function just fine from it. people who say that statement, are HIGH...or are at least the enablers in denial of the people who are HIGH! in my opinion, marijuana is NOT okay and should never be legal. and alcohol? yes, this is dangerous and personally i think prohibition should return. speaking of, drunk driving is something that can easily be prevented...by the police sitting back and arresting people who drive away from a public bar. how easy would that be to make their monthly quota of arrests? and how many deaths could we save each year from this overly simple task? it astounds me everyday that we allow people to drive away after having drinks in public. simply amazing.

i watched the new film starring rising star Seth Rogan called Pineapple Express yesterday at my favorite website. this movie was VERY funny, BUT if you think the long term affects of a movie that shows people driving around while smoking pot throughout the entire film is a good thing for society? wow. yeah yeah, Cheech and Chong, Half Baked, whatever. doesn't mean it's okay and it isn't helping our world at all. regardless...it's illegal and we wonder why so many of our kids are getting arrested for driving under the influence. it impairs you anyway you look at it...and if you don't agree with me, you must be HIGH!

that reminds me...i don't see too many movies being released focusing on people who drink and drive (maybe aside from one of favorites, Sideways), have fun while doing it, and never see the negative consequences. why is that? when there is a scene with people drinking and driving in films...it's nothing but serious foreshadowing that some devastating event will soon happen. with marijuana based films...it's different most of the time and the people get through it and laugh. yes, i do think alcohol is worse than marijuana...but that's beside the point. they both are dangerous to everyone, especially everyone outside of the user, unless done in moderation and in a home away from the public or away from "heavy machinery"...period. plus, marijuana is illegal and yet we celebrate it in so many films today as an activity of the characters without noting the potential long term side effects. whatever...i don't America to turn into a socialist or a communistic society, but i do feel strongly about a few things.

and now there is Salvia Divinorium, a highly dangerous drug with serious concerns i know quite well. this needs to be illegal in all 50 states, and i believe eventually it will, but until then we need to be aware of the long term side effects, which really haven't even been fully studied or understood.

trust me on this one. ingest at your own risk.

our life has come to this. you're at the grocery store. you need to buy toothpaste. you see approximately 137 different brands, types, and colors. some even have 3 different colors swirled around like candy! all "approved" by dentists and all are "recommended" on various levels by "scientists" and so-called "experts".

so...which one do you buy? who do you trust?

personally, when it comes to toothpaste, i actually listen to my dentist, because i have had a few (2) say that Colgate Total is the best one around. i'm not sure how much their payback is for telling me that, but i seem to have bought into it.

in other words...i'm a sucker when it comes to buying toothpaste.

but in our world, especially here in America, we have choices, choices, and even more choices than we know what to do with.

another aspect in regards to the number of choices we have is with the invention of "TiVo" and the number of television channels we currently have to choose from. is it just me, or does anyone else think that watching television channel number 254 out of over 300 channels is a strange concept to accept? i remember when 70 channels seemed a little overwhelming.

friends of mine who have TiVo seem to swear by this amazing invention. the funny thing is, that everyone of my friends that has TiVo also seem to consistently have hours and hours of unwatched programs backed up that they constantly "need to catch up on." i find that statement to be a little on the funny side. just WHO is controlling WHO here?

yes, we have so many choices, and so many interests as a result of today's unbelievable technological world. children born in today's (1990 and after) world have no idea how different things used to be. the rate that technology is advancing is something we really don't quite fully understand yet. and at this rate, i'm not sure we ever will catch up with it. i know, i sound like Ward Cleaver from Leave it to Beaver when i talk about the "good old days", but it's true...it's even come down to the fact that we can completely eliminate sitting through commercials and advertisements for crap we really don't "need".

what's my point? life is clearly harder today because of the number of choices we can select from at any given moment. i just recently learned about a website called linkedin.com where you can post your resume online along with a profile...it's the next step up from the so-called adult version of myspace known as facebook. apparently i didn't get the memo about linkedin.com and i feel bad for not knowing about it. you can post your resume and sit back and not get any calls regarding it because there are too many posted already. or, on the other side, you can try and search through the million profiles of people who have mastered the art of inflating their resumes to sheer perfection.

how in the hell are we supposed to keep up with everything? i mean that as a serious question? there is currently a commercial that REALLY makes me wanna punch through the TV every time it comes on. it's from Citibank, and the narrator says the following during the 1st 20 seconds of the 30 second add:

every night you sleep
but your dreams are wide awake
because ambitions never sleep
aspirations never sleep
goals never sleep
hopes never sleep
opportunities never sleep
the world never sleeps...

now you might be wondering...why does that commercial get me all up in a tizzy? i feel like it just reminds me that i am behind the times, that i need to go faster, that need to catch up, that i need to get my crap together, that i need to keep up with the ridiculous speed that the technological world is moving at...because if i don't, i'll be left behind. plus...maybe it's the music in the add that makes me go crazy too...it's an indie sounding repetitive guitar weep of someone plucking the same notes over and over again along with the tingle of a xylophone that makes you wanna cry. it just strikes me the wrong way every time it comes on, so i immediately change the channel or hit mute. the commercial is on all the time now, so my channel, mute, and volume buttons on my remote control are quite worn. yes, maybe i just need to get out more. or maybe i just need TiVo.

but my point is that there are so many choices in the world and so many different options and so many different things we can master and so many things we can learn about. it's pretty much infinite, wouldn't you say? i find this to be overwhelming.

making decisions has always been a weakness of mine. i have my passions, but details i really could care less about. like, "where do you wanna eat tonight?", or "what do you wanna do tonight?" or "do i want the toilet paper with the cross stitch zig-zag pattern, or the the double roll that is as thick as a cloth?" details are just not in my agenda, especially at this time in my life. I JUST DON'T FREAKING CARE ABOUT DETAILS THAT DON'T MATTER! since i'm cheap, that makes my choices quite easy for the most part...aside from toothpaste.

i just find it a little depressing to know that with so many choices, it makes it harder to accept the decisions you have already made and will have to make every day. this goes with every possible aspect of life we can think of...consumer goods, career paths, the dating scene, raising kids, etc...with so many choices, it's far too easy to wonder..."did i make the best choice?" or the inevitable worry of "will i make the best choice?"

so what's the answer you ask? i don't know. there are too many choices to pick an answer. but i do think you just gotta have faith in yourself and a greater force to know and trust that you are making the "best" choices...as we know, there really aren't any "correct" answers in life because every one's life is always subjective and is simply a matter of perspective and opinion...but i think we can try and have a little faith that we will make the best choices from the infinite number of avenues available in life.

WOW!

did you feel that?

that was a really weird sensation!

everything around us has changed!

look around!

look at the date on that newspaper!

it's November...in 1955? HOLY CRAP!

look at the movie that's playing at the theatre...it's The Seven Year Itch, starring Marilyn Monroe!

and those cars! WOW! simply unreal!

and do ya hear that? is that Mr. Sandman playing on the radio? amazing!

here we are...it's 1955...let's talk about women and their place in this world.

a woman cannot be a doctor...for she has dishes to wash! a woman cannot be a lawyer...for she has to cook for her husband! a woman cannot be an astronaut...for she has kids to raise! let's be realistic here, ok? GEEESH! we all know quite well that women are NOT as equal as men.

you DO know that women are not as strong or as intelligent as men, don't you? hell, it's been scientifically proven by that Freud guy! a woman has only one place in this world...and that's the kitchen, in her home, with her kids, and pleasing her husband as needed. PERIOD! that's the way things are, always have been, and always will be.

damn, i mean women are lucky to even have the right to vote! i STILL don't understand why we caved on that one!

and that reminds me...a woman woke up the other day, (because it was time for her to get up and cook for her kids and husband) walked in the bathroom, looked in the mirror deep into her own eyes, and thought to herself..."i want to have a family and be President of the United States of America."

Ahahahahahahaha! Ahahahahahahaha!

now THAT'S a good joke! i mean...what a punchline! i'll have to remember that one!

i can't stop laughing...our BEST presidents, which have only been men of course, have had to balance a family and be the leader of the Free World at the same time.

and the nerve...to even think that a woman can have a family AND be President of the United States of America?

Ahahahahahahahaha! that's the funniest thing i've ever heard in my entire life!

hell...i must be dreaming!

this is a bad day for me. little sleep, and i awake to the story of a kid being decapitated at Six Flags over Georgia yesterday.

then on Fox News, there is a story about how Barack Obama supporters have started to take "Hussein" as they're middle name too. allow me to recall your memory for you...these are the same idiots who got all hot and bother when the media came out with using his full name, BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA. you were, once again, called RACIST if you used his middle name in a sentence. but now, after getting used to the name themselves, they flip flop on NOT using it...into directly promoting it! All within just a few months! kinda like how Hillary and Obama are best friends now and Obama calls them, "Bill and Hillary"...even though 6 months ago they hated each other with a passion unseen in the democratic party.

this goes to show you, ignorance and sheer stupidity are determined to follow the liberal left in America. this is just dumb in so many more ways, i won't even begin.

However, Barack Obama said the following on 06/20/08 in Jacksonville, Florida:

"It is going to be very difficult for Republicans to run on their stewardship of
the economy or their outstanding foreign policy," Obama told a fundraiser in
Jacksonville, Florida. "We know what kind of campaign they're going to run.
They're going to try to make you afraid.

"They're going to try to make you afraid of me. He's young and inexperienced and
he's got a funny name. And did I mention he's black?"

way to go Barack! only you could do something so stupid.

read that again, carefully. John McCain has even been going OUT of his way to NOT talk about race in ANY way whatsoever....

and Obama brings to the table ALL he BELIEVES he has as ammo...the color of his skin. so sad.

ohh, was that a little blunt? the man had a RACIST preacher for 20 years! VERY RACIST i might add.

ohh, and that paper his wife wrote back in college about how unfair it is to be black in America IS important to me (or whatever words you wanna use to describe that rant of a POS paper, which i DID read and found to be immature, extremely offensive, with incorrect generalizations of America). in fact, it goes hand in hand with the liberal philosophy is you really study it.

i work with a few people who don't see these "other Obama friends and family member" issues as being important in a presidential race. this to me, is simply amazing.

leave it to a liberal to refuse to speak about the true character of a person whenever possible! liberals do NOT count the true character of a person when choosing a candidate. remember, these same people didn't think it mattered that Bill Clinton was having affairs with NUMEROUS women. yes, basically what i'm trying to say here regarding Obama is YOU ARE YOUR FRIENDS

it matters to me that The Father of Our Country is in deed...a true patriot, who continues to show his or her love for the the best country in the world. and a person's character, to me, is of the utmost importance as well.

but i know liberals. believe, me i do. i'm 30 years old and have been around MOSTLY liberals my entire life. roughly 1/3 of which have never and will never vote which is a small statement about the group as a whole. but allow me to move on after that cheap shot.

for YEARS i sat quietly about my conservative views until I started this blog a while ago while friends of mine bitched about "Republicans" endlessly. hell, i'm STILL forced to pull out my, "every politician is crooked" speech on a regular basis because i feel like if i can get everyone to agree with me on that...well, that's one step closer for them growing up and seeing the truth.

are all politicians crooked? absolutely, but the fiscal conservative view of the American economy makes so much sense compared to tax and spend. here it is...in an nutshell. tell me different if you don't think this is the norm. (wait...if you're liberal you may think you are reading Greek) the more money you have in your pocket the more money you will inevitably SPEND, even if you try to save every penny. However, the less i have...after increased taxes, the less i'll have to go to the movies, concerts, restaurants, and generally i'll just buy cheaper things i need to have...but once the money is put back in our pocket...most people adjust by spending it all just like before. spending money, is of course, good for America. please don't bring up the current China debacle and our scrambled international trade. i'm not in the mood right now.

and yes, i honestly do believe that as one matures politically in a "regular" way, i believe a lot more times than not, liberals become more conservative as they GROW UP. hell, i remember when i entered college...for a brief moment..i thought it would be cool to be like all of my new friends...liberal, anti-american, tree hugging, babies.

then i grew up.

holy crap!

a 17 year old was decapitated at Six Flags over Georgia after he entered restricted zones to try and retrieve a hat he lost while riding the Batman ride. apparently, the ride itself hit it's full speed of 50mph as it hit the victim.

holy crap!

remember that girl who had her feet amputated by the Superman ride a few years back in Kentucky?

holy crap!

ohh, they also released more news. in May 2002, yet another death occurred at Six Flags over Georgia when a groundskeeper entered the restricted zones at the Batman ride and was hit by the ride.

holy crap!

i realize these 2 deaths have complete idiots to blame. restricted = bad.

but what about the girl who lost her legs? wasn't her fault at all!
ohh yeah...they were able to attach one of her feet back. i'm sure she's thrilled.

i don't think i'm too excited to go to Six Flags anytime soon.

this is too much. decapitated? uhh, i'm not sure i ever wanna go back to Six Flags. talk about some bad energy. no thanks.

i'm manic right now. yes..this very moment while i write this. what you don't see is that every few words you read have been backspaced through and corrected...more than once, all because i am typing at what feels like a zillion words a minute, but in reality it's more like maybe 30 per minute. oh, i did forget to mention i use only 2 fingers while typing. yes..those 2.

it's been a while since my last post. i've been slowly becoming more manic day by day, week by week, and month by month. part of me knew the medicine had stopped working months ago (I have NEVER intentionally skipped a dose), but another part of me wanted to prove to myself i had become better. now, for at LEAST a month...i've been manic.

how manic? what's it like?

the carpet is moving around in front of my eyes...just like an acid trip...like a flashback or something.

ohh, and that glass window door? i honestly feel like I can run right through it. same goes for that wall too, and that car, and that person. you can see where this can be bad, yes.

before i go any further...allow me to explain. i went to the ER today and waited 3 hours for a presciption (amazing how you come in to the ER, show CLEAR signs of mania, and they sit me in a room and give me NO updates for 3 hours). plus, the one guy who did say he was going to grab a remote control for me (hey, it was a small flat screen TV...very pimp for a room with a curtain door). well, he never came back and even avoided making eye contact with me whenever he would pass my room...every 5 minutes...for 2 hours. dick.

and ya know, without being treated or at least given an update as to why i am still lying in a apron in my underwear with a TV turned off with every john, dick, and hary staring at me from the outside of my open room as they wait patiently for their loved one to get a bullet removed from their skull. this was north fulton medical hospital, i might add. so...for so many hours, i started thinking maybe i should have gone to the NON-Emergency Room, as I bet they get serviced faster.

i even asked one of the 13 year old looking nurses after the first 2 hours, "do i have to break every single item in this room to be taken seriously? i'm manic! calm me the f*ck down!" my only problem was I was trying to be quite civil about it at first...with NO luck! i'm sure this 13 year old nurse will remember me for a while after that unload. hey...i said i was MANIC when i walked in and signed papers!

anyway, i did get a prescription for some anxiety medicine until i see a doctor tomorrow. can't go to work. may have to miss a lot of work, but at least i'll have a legal binding note from my doctor. saweeeet! im gonna take advantage of this break. it's long overdue. six flags anyone??

so, yeah. that's how i've been these days...er i mean months. friends haven't heard from me. i'm a little hard to understand because i may tend to talk 300+ words a minute, with no direct relation from one sentence or overly obscure idea to the very next. to those that still call me friends...thank you, i love you more than you'll know.

i'll keep ya posted! in the meantime, i'll be examining the carpet in front of me...simply because it's breathing my way.

ZZZZzzz....what? did someone just say my name? i swear! I just heard my name! ZZZZzzzz....

i sit back and wonder a lot of various things these days. with my new job and new found income, i wonder why Americans would wanna vote for a candidate that is guaranteed to raise their taxes. i wonder why Americans would wanna vote for a candidate who promises to put the United States government in charge of their individual health care. i mean, face it...this IS the same United States government that was put in charge of our individual retirement plans, known as Social Security. does anyone still understand that the Social Security system spends more than it currently has? i wonder why Americans don't understand that spending more money than that which is available results in a bankrupt and broken system. i wonder why Americans can forget that this same United States government takes out over 30% of each and every legal paycheck...and yet some of the candidates want to increase that...a lot. the point? so that the American people can be that much more reliable on the United States government. once the people are fully reliable on their government...the people are weaker and easier to control.

i wonder why Americans have such a sense of entitlement living here. i wonder why Americans are increasingly becoming less and less responsible for their own lives, decisions, and futures. and above all...i wonder why they want the United States government to take over?

mind control happens when you give government more and more power over our personal lives. if ya think i'm being a little too extreme here...i'm not. Obama and Hillary are "liberal" enough to make the United States into a Socialist+Totalitarian territory.

i've had these conversations with people. i never hear much in return to these questions:

"our health care sucks...i went to the emergency room and had to wait for hours before getting help."

i guess when you put the word "free" in front of goodies, people tend to think that 'magic' somehow appears into the situation. i don't claim to be smarter than anyone, but i do claim to be able to think logically...occasionally.

the fact is, that with nationalized health care...the long lines you think you know now...will lack in comparison to the lines you will see once every drug addict, morbidly obese cigarette smoker, or just generally unhealthy person wants to go utilize their "free" health care.

got a headache? go to the emergency room! why not? it's free! bumped your elbow? go get an x-ray...it's free!

oh, you wanna schedule an MRI for that special condition you have? ok...we can fit you in at 2:30pm on Thursday, July 16th...2009. you think i'm kidding?

personal health care is a choice...not a right. don't believe me? i have known plenty of people in my 30 years of life who don't think they need healthcare and don't want it...and don't buy it as a result. and as ignorant as that concept is to me...it's still their human right to make the choice NOT to pursue it.

i wonder why Americans think i'm wrong on this issue.

i wonder why i should possibly have my "wages garnished" if i refuse to pay into the introduced nationalized health care system. Hillary said enforcement may include taking YOUR money out of YOUR paycheck (for those that refuse to pay into HER plan). yes, she said this here when she was on national TV on MSNBC.

as i mentioned at the start of this spew, i have many many thoughts these days.

the list continues and the list gets more diverse with every sequential thought.

such as:

do i think George W. Bush is a fantastic example of what i believe in? no. do i think he is even an example of a true conservative? not at all. if you've been following, he's been quite liberal with money. granted, he did have to face the aftermath of the biggest attack in American history.

speaking of, i wonder why Americans so easily forget that we haven't had ANY attacks inside our country since 9/11. i wonder why Americans don't find this to be important anymore. i wonder why Americans are so ignorant to fully understand that this wonderful country we live in...is in fact a wonderful country!

hell, i wonder why some Americans STILL think that "9/11 was an inside job".

i wonder why Americans would want to grant amnesty to people that jump ahead of the line and come over here illegally. we did this in the 80's...based on the strict agreement that it would stop...altogether. it didn't work. i wonder why Americans don't understand this.

many days, i even wonder what's wrong with me for wanting to secure our borders and punish criminals who come here illegally.

i wonder why Americans still like to use the line, "tax cuts for the rich". furthermore, i wonder why Americans don't understand that millionaires and the "rich" pay so much more money in taxes than the average person would ever know what to do with. why is that so hard to understand? it's 3rd grade simple math.

i wonder why Americans want to keep increasing the minimum wage, as if to try and make it so that we live in a classless society where everyone makes the same amount of money. in this argument, i wonder why Americans think that janitors need to make the same amount of money as managers, teachers, accountants, or innovative creative thinkers.

and lately...

i wonder why more American's haven't read Ann Rand's, Atlas Shrugged and understood that government intervention in our individual lives is a bad idea!

holy crap! i just watched 2 more movies online here that made me really really happy. i don't know where to start, but i guess i'll start with the BIG surprise feel good movie.

Wristcutters: A Love Story is an outstanding movie. i was a little skeptical when i first read about it, but i was still interested. on paper, the movie doesn't seem like it would work...at all. the best surprise is, that it does!

Wristcutters is set in an afterlife reserved for people who commit suicide. this afterlife is a lot like reality, except no one can smile, there are no stars in the sky, and a few other surprises i won't mention. the film stars Patrick Fugit, (the kid from Almost Famous), Tom Waits, and my future wife...Shannyn Sossamon. these 3 characters find themselves in this bizarre and gloomy afterlife because they "off'ed" themselves for various reasons in the real world. they're each looking for something different in this afterlife, but they decide to take a road trip together.

surprisingly, the film was released by After Dark Films...i say "surprisingly" because this is a GREAT movie. After Dark Films has been the culprit behind less than desirable crappy horror films, like the masterpiece Captivity. for a review of Captivity i wrote, go here. so i can say that with Wristcutters, After Dark Films has renewed my interest.

back to the movie though. Wristcutters is a HILARIOUS dark comedy. it's very well written, well paced, and even though the story may be a tad bit predictable, the movie is full of surprises and keeps you interested. when the movie was over, i couldn't stop smiling and i just HAD to write this review ASAFP. if ya like the idea, and you're in the mood for strange but completely original and cute love story along the lines of...let's say, Being John Malkovich...see this movie! it's a keeper!


now onto the other movie i watched...No Country For Old Men.

No Country For Old Men proves that the Coen Brothers are STILL...the shit. if ya haven't heard about this one, i don't know what rock you've been hiding under. it's winning awards left and right, and will definitely take up some more at the 65th Golden Globe Awards on January 13th, 2008.

all i can say is...believe the hype! the fact that it's such an AWESOME movie doesn't surprise me because of the consistent 4 star reviews it's getting. after seeing it, it's one of my favorite Coen Brothers films and goes right up there with Fargo, The Big Lebowski, Raising Arizona, and Barton Fink. for me personally, it's hard to name one of their previous films that's CLEARLY better than No Country For Old Men. this film is creepy, suspenseful, fascinating, unpredictable, extremely intelligent...and the ending will more than likely piss you off. and those, my friends, are the basics of EVERY good Coen Brothers film to date.

so there ya have it...a refreshingly fantastic original love story, and another prefect Coen Brothers film. BOTH are 4 star movies!

i dream every night. well, actually...we ALL dream every night. even people who claim they "don't dream" in essence, DO dream every night. they just may not remember them.

i don't remember the majority of my dreams. ever since i started my latest medication, my dreams have been a little "out there". if you're curious on what i mean about being "out there" just read one of my old blogs here

last night was no different...except that i woke up with a vivid memory of visiting a zoo the night before in my dreams. it was great! it wasn't like an average zoo where the animals are caged up and visitors are limited to where they can go...it was more like a game park-zoo, where you could walk around on rocks, up mountains, around aquariums, and basically anywhere you wanted to go to get a better view of the animals.

at one point in the dream, i was with some friends from Hawaii and some buddies from the Peace Corps and we were walking on top of some huge boulders that were sticking out of this very large aquarium. you could walk on the boulders so you could look down and see the fish in the crystal clear blue water. thousands and thousands of fish swam below us...BIG fish and even BIGGER fish. there was even a catfish the size of your average SUV swimming right below me! my friends and i were maneuvering ever so elegantly around the boulders and rocks. it was slightly scary because of the size of the fish we saw underneath, but we were having fun.

then, i saw something that REALLY scared me. there was a VERY large tiger swimming in the water! he occasionally climbed up on the boulders where we were! at one point i had to sneak around this big boulder so the tiger wouldn't see me. it was quite difficult to keep my footing, as to not fall in the water.

i thought he was gone and let out a sigh of relief and a laugh to my friends, "wow! that was close!"

then i looked back...the tiger had heard me talking and he immediately jumped back at my direction at lightning speed. my friends and i were on the same boulder, but i jumped over to a desk that was outside the aquarium. that's right...a desk. yes, like the one you work at, in a cubicle, with a computer.

i got away, but i looked back and my friends were stuck. unfortunately, they weren't so lucky. the last thing i remember was seeing them getting pounced on by this HUGE tiger.

i woke up and felt bad...for leaving my friends behind. i'm not sure what i could have done, but i wasn't able to do anything to help them.

back in reality...i get up, take a shower, eat lunch, and go turn on the TV.

i go to Fox News and i see the ongoing top story: a HUGE tiger escaped from a zoo in San Fransisco last night. one person was killed and two others were mauled. in my dream, i had 3 other people with me when the tiger came into the picture.

pretty weird, huh? for details on the actual story, go here

cue Twilight Zone music

ok, i'm bored. it's the holidays, i'm broke, and i have nothing to do to keep me entertained. i have decided to start an extra career in the art of "scambaiting".

if you remember, a few years ago (and for as long as email has been around) there were a series of 419 Nigerian scams hitting this country through email. the emails usually included 3 things, 1) a rather detailed sob story, 2) a large amount of cash (and when i mean large, i'm talking 10's of millions of dollars), and 3) asking for your help, in which you will be reimbursed in the 10's of millions of dollars.

"scambaiting" is just what the word describes it to be. you are, in essence, baiting the scam for as long as possible. the point? to waste the scammers time, energy and sometimes money so they cannot scam other people during the time you are screwing with them.

think about this. this is a LOT of fun, and there are numerous websites that will help you become a professional scambaiter...including what guestbooks to sign in order for you to get your initial scam letter!

i think the best one, by far, is 419eater. if they didn't start the whole scambaiting practice, they were sure close.

in 419eater you will find some of the funniest things and pictures you have ever come across. it's mind boggling and you just have to visit the sight and look around for a few minutes and understand what it's all about. the best thing to do is go to the site 419eater and click on "letters archive" link at the top and start reading some of the entries from the guy who calls himself "Shiver Metimbers". you will find the complete email exchanges between a real scammer and a real person screwing around with them to the nth degree!

this is a RIOT! i'm telling you, this is VERY cool and quite entertaining.

now if a part of you thinks this is WRONG, just remember these people will take every dime you have in a heartbeat and they will kill their brother for their bank account info, if it wasn't already empty. Scambaiting is NOT wrong, especially in this case. hell, if you ask me, MSNBC's "Predator: To Catch A Thief" is worse than this, and i agree with Chris Hanson. so, in a way, if you are NOT scambaiting, you are actually in essence helping and allowing other people to get scammed out of their life savings. hey, you gotta be pro-active to fight online terrorism.

one of the funniest things you can do with these scammers is to get them to send you pictures of themselves holding a sign of your choosing...for identification purposes. some of the things written on the signs are HILARIOUS! think, most of these people hardly know english, so the options to make them look stupid for your entertainment is virtually endless. one time, this scambaiter even had the scammer put a fish on top of his head with a loaf of break in his mouth while holding a bottle of wine. it's childish, yet ingenues!

i'm going to start this ASAFP! i just today got my 3 initial scam letters. 1)a recent orphan who has $27 million to share with me, 2)a 58 year old woman who recently lost her husband and has a plan for me to share $10 million with her, and 3)a guy by the name of Koffa (creepy) who has $12.5 million in unclaimed cash, and i can get 30% of that!

holy shiznit! i'm going to be rich! woot woot!

when i was a kid, for years my brother would joke to me about my favorite baseball player. a man with arms the size of my waist...a man by the name of Jose Canseco.

"he's on steroids! just look at him!" my brother said, so sure of his direct accusations. me, sitting there getting angry, trying to defend my top baseball role model, had nothing else do but exclaim back with a vengeance, "no he isn't...shut up!"

well, as it turned out he was right. just how did he know? think about it...this was back in the late 1980's. WAY before the internet, and WAY before ANY kind of hint of steroid use in the sport of baseball. my brother amazes me sometimes with the things he knows, or thinks he knows. most of the time, he's right. looking back, i guess it wasn't rocket science. the man clearly looked juiced.

today, we have a myriad of professional sport athletes breaking long lasting records on a regular basis. i'm talking about EVERY sport...from Cycling, to Soccer, to Basketball, to Tennis, to Hockey, to Badminton, to Football, to Wiffleball, to Ping Pong.

face it...there is a very wide use of steroids in EVERY sport on the planet. for some, this may be a hard pill to swallow, no pun intended. i have been trying to come to terms with the fact that there is a high likelihood my favorite players and favorites teams are involved somewhat in the current steroid scandal.

i mean, who wants to admit that their favorite player may feel the need to take drugs, that make their genitals smaller, just in order to compete. it's a sad sad realization..but if you think that your favorite player, sport, or team cannot be involved...think again.

today, Jose Canseco even said on a daytime talk show that Alex Rodriquez is "not who he says he is". i don't like A-Rod, but the man has been an avid spokesman against steroid use in baseball. Canseco has NOTHING to gain from lying, and yes...he has nothing to lose either...but why wouldn't A-Rod be taking steroids? people call him the best player in the world, even though baseball is mainly an American fascination.

remember Lance Armstrong failed at least one drug test. it's all the same with these guys...they all say one of 3 things in retaliation: 1) "i have never used steroids!", or 2) "the test was wrong!", and my personal favorite, 3) "i was set up!".

RIGHT!

i have lost ALL respect for EVERY professional athlete. now i'm a HUGE Boston Celtics fan, and this year...quite frankly, they are kicking ass in the NBA. this comes after an off season where an NBA referee was found guilty of gambling, cheating, and fixing the scores of NBA games he officiated. nice. ya know, my brother also always told me that the NBA referees were being paid off. bingo. man, you've really gotta hand it to my brother. he just KNOWS. uhh, Sylvia Browne who???

my point is...i don't know who to trust anymore. i'm still gonna watch the games and pay attention to every sport, out of habit. but nothing surprises me anymore regarding people who make millions of dollars. they are ALL scum. they ALL make too much money for very little "work". this also goes for actors and politicians too.

so, if you think that your favorite player or favorite team isn't involved or is NO WAY associated with unfair practices. think again. no one's perfect.

people like to read a lot in America. well, i bet people in other countries like to read more based on the ignorance i experience everyday here...but still, there is a select type of person who is ALWAYS reading something. i, unfortunately, am not one of these people...but i do like to read certain select authors and the occasional highly recommended stranger. so, for the people in the world who read ANYTHING at all, i have to hand it to you. i envy a part of you and i am sometimes intimidated by you because of the fact that you read more than i do, and in my mind there is a possibility you are simply smarter than i am. for that, i sincerely applaud you.

however, there is a certain type of reader i cannot stand...and, yes as a matter of fact, i do enjoy judging these and other people i don't understand. hey, judging people is human nature. if you try and tell me you don't EVER judge someone, you're lying. anytime you put a label on anyone OR anything, you are in essence...judging. trust me.

ok, i'm currently watching The Da Vinci Code on Starz On-Demand. believe it or not, i haven't seen it yet. i know i know, what's wrong with me...catch this...i also just recently watched Munich for the 1st time last night! and, don't laugh, i still haven't seen Schindler's List. however, watching Ron Howard's take on Dan Brown's semi-intriguing ridiculous fantasy..i started to remember a specific trait about certain people i DON'T like in this world.

did ya catch people reading The Da Vinci Code? well, did you catch people reading The Da Vinci Code AFTER the movie came out or while the hype about the movie was HUGE?

bingo. that's a characteristic of my anti-type of person.

for some reason, when i see someone reading a book along with the hype of the movie, such as The Da Vinci Code, Memoirs Of A Geisha, The Scarlet Letter, American Beauty, or "insert Hollywood Blockbuster based on a book here"...i seem to get a little more than irritated. in fact, i get down right angry at the type of person who jumps on the bandwagon with the rest of the sheep in America; and most of the time, this person seems to be proud of it. i mean, people like to carry their book around with them everywhere, as if it's a statement of who they are as a person...or as a symbol of how smart they wanna appear to be to everyone around them. people may not ever even read the damn book outside their own home, however they'll be damned if they leave the house without it.

i remember a co-worker once reading Memoirs Of A Geisha, AFTER the hype of that POS movie came out...and i remembered my ex-girlfriend reading...you got it, The Da Vinci Code when everyone was all up in arms about it. and what do ya know...both of these people pissed me off too. coincidence? i think not!

it's also the SAME type of person who buys albums popularized by MTV and radio, and STILL finds their favorite track to be THE one song that is played over and over again until your ears bleed for mercy. being a Smashing Pumpkins fan in 2007, i do my best not to cringe directly at these people. for example, at the last Pumpkins concert i went to in Atlanta, a girl and her boyfriend sitting next to me showed up about 30 minutes late. they watched the concert for about an hour from the 5th row in the pit at the Fox Theatre...then the girl nudges me and asks in an annoyingly high pitched voice, "did they play Today yet?" i couldn't believe my ears. for one, i can easily go my entire life without EVER hearing another Smashing Pumpkins song mutilated by constant airplay. i looked at her for en extended moment, bit my lip and said politely, "Yeah, it was the first song they played". the smile shining from the metal braces on her teeth turned to a frown of sheer disappointment instantaneously. her and her boyfriend, who got into a fight immediately after that, left about 10 minutes later. hell, i was STOKED the Pumpkins got rid of that song at the start of the show! it's not that i hate these songs, it's just that they've been driven into my head more times than my parents birthdays. the same can be said about any overplayed radio song. i was a DJ for a few years and good god almighty help me! seriously, songs like My Sharona, The YMCA, or any song known to man by Matchbox 20, or The Goo Goo Dolls makes me wanna get an early start planning my own personal suicide bomb attack against soon to be president-elect Hillary Clinton. GOD HELP ME NOW!

i'm not quite sure what's wrong with me on these issues i have with certain people, i think maybe it's their lack of originality, i'm not totally sure, but i sure can pinpoint these people from a mile away.

so if the book you're confidently holding as you walk down the street has a big label on the cover that reads, "Soon To Be A Major Motion Picture", or "Now A Major Motion Picture"...please...save yourself from watching a grown man cry, either hide the book, or turn around and walk the other way.


legal note: i'm joking about my assassinate Hillary Clinton statement. please, try and arrest me...my life is boring anyway

Today
Stand Inside Your Love
That's The Way (My Love Is)
Drown
Bring The Light
Tarantula
Starla
United States
33 (acoustic)
1979 (acoustic)
To Sheila
Cherub Rock
Ava Adore
Zero
Shame
Bullet w/ Butterfly Wings
Heavy Metal Machine
w/ Iron Man
w/ On The Road Again
w/ I Love Rock and Roll

encore:
Pomp and Circumstances
Rocket

encore:
Doomsday Clock
Lucky 13

encore:
With Every Light

Well, as you can see from the set list, the show was longer and clearly better. Last nights show was hard to beat..but, somehow, they did it!

I made some friends before the show. I was apparently famous last night for wearing the 666 shirt...a girl, who waited for her boyfriend to go away, chatted up a conversation with me about the shirt I wore last night. We talked like old Smashing Pumpkins friends. It was awesome...then her boyfriend, who's head was shaved bald just like Billy Corgan came back and she didn't talk as much...so I quickly began a conversation with both of them, trying to reassure her Mr. Clean boyfriend that I meant no harm. They were really good people...period. I really liked both of them. Funny though, they were in their early 20's...like 21 and 22. Funny because when asked WHEN I bought the shirt, I told them the truth, "about 14 years ago". Ummm, that puts them at the age of 7 or so when I bought it! They were from North Carolina, and they had gotten screwed when they drove down here for the initial concerts and found out, after the 6 hour drive, that the shows were going to be re-scheduled. Luckily they were able to come back for the new dates. I keep using pronouns to describe 'them' because I never got their names. I'll remember them next time though for sure.

As far as the show:

Literally, all of my favorites (well, my favorites they are playing on this tour) were there. Highlights for me were Stand Inside Your Love, Starla, 33, To Sheila, Ava Adore, Zero, Shame, Rocket, Doomsday Clock, and Lucky 13. HOLY CRAP! I couldn't have picked a better set list to follow up the remarkable show they put on last night.

Both Atlanta shows were a little over 2 1/2 hours, whereas the majority of the shows this tour (following the residency dates) were around the 2 hour mark. Hell, the Athens, GA show was barely 2 hours...and at the time, I thought THAT show was the shiznit!

Other great moments were after To Sheila and after Shame, where Billy added a LOT of extra guitar soloing. BADASS once again!

Funny moment: After the second song (Stand Inside Your Love), Billy says, "Atlanta? You have the WORST traffic!" Crowd goes wild in agreement. Corgan, "It's fucking terrible! I should write a song about that!...The Nightmare of Atlanta!" Crowd goes nuts. The traffic before the show was pretty freakin ridiculous. Made me wonder where Billy was and what he was doing as to get caught up in hating the traffic. I'm sure the traffic in Chicago isn't any better.

They haven't done 3 encores in a while, but they did here. These 2 shows in Atlanta were easily the best ones, as far as the set lists suggest, on the entire tour.

The Rose March (acoustic)
That's The Way (My Love Is) (acoustic)
Disarm (acoustic)
For God And Country (acoustic)
United States
Bullet w/ Butterfly
Drown
Bring The Light
Tonight Tonight
Tarantula
Glass And The Ghost Children
Hummer
Pomp and Circumstances
Set The Ray To Jerry
Today
Superchrist
Heavy Metal Machine
-w/ Iron Man
-w/ I Love Rock and Roll

encore:
1979 (acoustic)
Perfect (acoustic w/ Jimmy on Tambourine)

encore:
Cherub Rock

I have no idea where to start. This was one of the top 3 concerts of my life...This one goes down with David Gilmour at the Rosemont Theatre in Chicago back in 2006, and Radiohead at Stone Mountain Georgia back in 2000.

I had a 3rd row Pit seat for the show..How? I payed double the $102 face value of the ticket. Stupid? Some people would say yes, but others near me also payed a hefty penny. Obsessively Retarded? Absolutely!

They let me in with my camera, so I took pictures until my batteries ran out (figures). The one on this blog entry is one of the many that I took.

The first 3 songs were acoustic, but the played "That's The Way (My Love Is)" acoustically for the first time on the tour. I love being at a show with "first" times. The funny thing was, as soon as Billy came out with an acoustic guitar, I just kinda walked up to the 1st row and stood there, along with the drunk men who also thought the same thing. Except, the drunk guys were asked to go back to their seats...yet I was able to stay there for the entire show, even though the security guards who talked to me before the show watched me walk up there and told me I couldn't move up. It was as if I had my lucky shirt made me invisible to the security guards.

So, I'm 5 feet from Jeff Schroeder and 10 feet from Billy...only because the stage is so big. I had to turn my head to catch all of the action! For me, this was the BIGGEST deal EVER! It was fantastic! No moshing and no worries regarding feet, hands, or bodies flying down on top of me. I couldn't of dreamed of a more perfect situation. I was in Pumpkin heaven like I have never been before!

Starting the show with 4 acoustic songs was great, just like the Nashville show. Billy and company felt bad about having to reschedule the shows, so they are clearly making it up to us by playing a more unique set list (and definitely longer sets as well).

Billy was screwing around a LOT with added solos and psychedelic guitar crap...it was quite a treat once again. Hell, for the intro to Tonight Tonight, he had some crazy ass solo! Once again, Glass And The Ghost Children was the best song of the night. This was my 3rd concert of the tour for them, and the 3rd different version of this Pink Floyd sounding hardcore JAMMING! Corgan and Schroeder were going off, and at one point I didn' even care if they played Starla or not (like I had been hopping for) because their improve jamming and face ripping guitar shredding was the best I had ever heard from them. My mouth was on the floor for the majority of the show. There was even a kickass keyboard solo by Lisa during GATGC, who for the most part of the tour is rather unnoticeable.

A funny moment came after they played Set The Ray To Jerry. Billy says, "That was Set The Ray To Jerry, for all of you that know Pisces Iscariot."...without hesistation, I come back and scream, "It's not on Pisces Iscariot!", for which i get a rather quick and uncomfortable glare from Billy. But hell, the song is NOT on that album! I wasn't trying to be an ass, but hell, the way I saw it during that split second, if ya have a chance to correct your favorite musician and a known perfectionist...do it! I thought he was pissed at me! As it turned out, he clearly wasn't (read on). After that, Billy looked at me various times throughout the show and smiled. I was one of the people who knew all the words to all the songs, including the unreleased ones...and I was moving around a LOT(NOT quite dancing, but more like head slamming to the grooves to keep my face from melting off). Actually, I may have looked like I having a controlled seizure.

Billy was in a GREAT mood the entire show...the best mood I've ever seen him. (This was my 10th Smashing Pumpkins show ever btw). He and the band were all laughing and goofing around the entire time. Everybody on stage was having a blast.

Another funny moment came when they start the usual Joan Jett cover during Heavy Metal Machine, called "I Love Rock N Roll (Put another dime in the jukebox baby!)" He trys to get everybody in the theatre to sing, but no one really was singing and he got a little frustrated. He starts talking to the crowd in the balcony and asks them, "What's the problem? Are you guys drunk? Are you guys stoned? Are you guys on a little PCP? Ohh wait, this is Georgia...it's Mushrooms isn't it! You guys in Georgia like walk around in fields and dig around in cow shit! You're on Mushroom aren't ya?!" This was HILARIOUS!

Also, during Heavy Metal Machine, they pulled out Iron Man by Black Sabbath! This was fantastic! Sabbath has always been an influence, according to Corgan, so it was very fitting to hear them rip into it.

Then, Billy notices a little kid in the balcony...this kid was in the newspaper here because he had the coolest Billy Corgan outfit, and when asked what he wanted to be for Halloween...he replied, "Smashing Pumpkins". Billy calls for every kid to come down and get up on stage. Believe it or not, there were maybe 10 kids under the age of 11 there with their parents. It was shocking for me at first, but then I realized...I'm 30 and so are may of his other old time fans, so it makes sense that the fans from way back have kids now. So, There are like 10 kids on stage and a few under the age of 4, and Corgan even picks one up and hold it for a while. It was quite neat situation. I haven't seen anything like this before from them. Billy was holding a kid and looking around and saying, "what do ya think?" as if he was getting approval to have kids. Very interesting. Ohh, and the poor little kid in the cool Billy Corgan costume was SOOO shy he never even looked out of his dads chest! One day that kid will kick himself! After like 10 minutes of fun with kids, Corgan says, "Okay!, get off the stage!"

Anyway, they finish the Joan Jett cover after the Iron Man tease, and Corgan starts a little more banter and says, "Ya know, 99% of the bands out there today kiss you ass! They will do ANYTHING to please you! And in doing so, they kiss your fucking ass!...Well, this band right here (points to himself) this band will NEVER kiss your fucking ass!" Crowd goes wild.

The encore was another acoustic set with 1979 and Perfect, once again with Jimmy on the tambourine. This was when Jimmy nodded at me and pointed (referring to my 666 shirt) TWICE (AWESOME!). Billy once again said how sorry they were for having to reschedule the shows. They seemed sincere, but ya know, it was a serious health issue, so who knows if they actually needed to feel "bad" for rescheduling. I was stoked though! I just knew that if I wore my lucky 666 shirt to an SP concert up close they would get a kick out of it since Billy wore the same shirt on rotation back during the Siamese Dream tour in 1993.

They came out for one more encore and played Cherub Rock...once again, ripping my face CLEAN off!

After the show, Billy starts to toss out the guitar picks...and man, I grabbed one as if I was diving for my last meal! I have ALWAYS wanted one of their guitar picks...and now I got one! PLUS, I have always wanted to "touch" Billy Corgan...and he ended up touching a total of 5 people after the show...including me! We touched fists (he only shook hands of a few girls)! His hand was very very cold and very bony. I was in heaven though. I felt like I could die and be happy!

On the way out, I picked up a Smashing Pumpkins flag...it's the United States Smashing Pumpkins black and white flag. $30, but well worth it for the cool original idea.

Well, all things must come to an end, and I have one more Smashing Pumpkins show tonight...and I'm really hoping they will play Starla.

but ya know...at this point, it really doesn't even matter to me anymore :)

I Don’t Mind (solo acoustic)
The Leaving Lament (solo acoustic)
The Rose March (solo acoustic)
United States
Bullet w/ Butterfly
Drown
Bring The Light
Tonight Tonight
Tarantula
Thant’s The Way (My Love Is)
Lucky 13
Hummer
Glass and the Ghost Children
1979 (solo acoustic)
Perfect (acoustic w/ Jimmy on Tambourine)
To Sheila (began acoustic and turned electric)
Today
SuperChrist
Heavy Metal Machine
I Love Rock And Roll -tease

Encore:
Pomp And Circumstances
Cherub Rock

Nashville...the city of Rock N Roll! or at least in my latest experience, the city of Country Twang at every bar. I got to the Pumpkins concert about an hour early so I had time to look around Nashville for a while. I actually went bar hopping, by myself. Near the Ryman Auditorium, there are numerous bars, a few restaurants, more bars, and even more bars. I'm tellin ya, the city was happening on a Sunday night! The funny thing is that I went to 3 places to have some drinks, and no one knew the Smashing Pumpkins were in town playing down the street. There was a band playing at every single bar in the area. Some were packed more than others with beer guzzling loud country twang fans. It was quite amazing actually! The people were more than nice however, and the country twang was...well...it was quite twangy. I almost got excited at one of the bars when a guy from the crowd screams, "Pink Floyd!" Hell, it seemed reasonable since the guitar player had a Dark Side oF The Moon shirt on...the singer responds with, "Pink Floyd! HAHAHA!!!" and...well, that was the end of that dream. Onward with more twang please!

Anyway, I had a good time informing the city of Nashville that the Smashing Pumpkins were in town.

As far as the REAL concert:

First off the opening band was ‘What Made Milwaukee Famous’, and NOT ‘Explosions in the Sky’ as otherwise noted. They were an average tight-sounding band from Austin, Texas. I didn’t find them anywhere near as talented or as interesting as ‘Explosions In The Sky’, who are also from Austin, and I saw open for the Pumpkins at the Athens show. ‘What Made Milwaukee Famous’ didn’t really remind me of anything and they seemed to have played forever. I guess you could call them an alternative, emo, fraternity band. There were 2 cool parts to their set, 1) when they teased Cherub Rock, and 2) when they left the stage.

Billy came on stage at roughly 9:15, and he looked the same BUT his outfit was a surgeon coat colored blue rather than all white. It was awesome because he was holding an acoustic guitar. They haven’t opened with an acoustic set in a while, I think since the residency dates. He played 3 songs I had only heard on Youtube. I Don’t Mind, The Leaving Lament, and The Rose March were 3 great songs. Billy was reading the lyrics (or sheet music) off a stand propped in front of him as he was sitting down on a barstool. The songs sounded great, and reminded me of classic Smashing Pumpkins acoustic music. Quite a treat to get a different beginning of a concert.

After the initial 3 songs by Billy, the rest of the band came out and they too were NOT wearing their usual outfits. Same colored outfit went for Ginger like Billy, a surgeon coat colored blue short dress. Jeff had an untucked white buttoned up shirt and jeans on, and Jimmy had his normal sleeveless button up shirt, kinda reminding me of someone from The Village People, but hey…it’s Jimmy, so he can get away with it.

The 4th song, and the first electric one was United States. The show seemed to be a lot like the Athens show I went to, except for a few changes in the set list (aside from the acoustic start). This show was a LOT better than the Athens show. United States was REALLY psychedelic at the mid point and very reminiscent of Pink Floyd…this is always the case, but it seemed like the distortion, feedback, and loud screeching of Billy’s guitar was a lot more powerful and present.

I got to hear Lucky 13, as I was hoping. Live, this song is awesome, PLUS they extended it to make it longer and even more ‘in your face’ badass. This song kicks ass anyway, but live…OMG!

Hummer was great as usual, and Glass and the Ghost Children was much better at this show too. Corgan and Schroeder were exchanging times for improve psychedelic soloing. They have changed this song up so much, it’s completely different from the album…and it takes a second or 2 to figure out what it is because it’s so different. This version is BETTER than the one on Machina.

The middle acoustic set was great too. Once again, it was 1979, and Perfect, but then they added another one I was hoping for: To Sheila. To Sheila was kinda acoustic turned electric, as Billy started onstage by himself, but then the band comes out and waits for their cue to blast back into the song. To Sheila was done perfectly and amazingly.

Superchrist and Heavy Metal Machine were great as usual, and the encore with Pomp and Circumstances and Cherub Rock was nice.

Well, last night I arrived at the Classic Center in Athens at around 5:30pm. I was early to the Smashing Pumpkins concert and had an hour to kill. I parked my car on the top floor of the Classic Center parking deck. I had backed my car into a space so that I was facing west. I knew it was due west because the sun had just set. Now I saw something that turned out to be something that has me thinking one word: CONSPIRACY. When I got home, I had to write my story to the the media. There was a fire at a lumbar yard in Norcross, Georgia. My whole point here is, I believe I saw the cause of the fire. I mean, this fire in Norcross, was HUGE! On TV, it looked like the entire city of Norcross was in flames, and the fire burned throughout the entire night and burned the ENTIRE Lumber Yard down to the ground, starting a little after 6pm on 11/7/07. I wrote this story and sent it to Fox 5 News, 11 Alive News, and the Atlanta Journal and Constitution Newspaper. I wrote this because of what I read about the story. here is a version of the story. here is another version of the story. and yet, one more version detailing the aftermath.

here is what I wrote:

thought you may find this interesting, since the "cause of the fire" in Norcross is undetermined". i'm 30 years old, and i was sober when i saw this and i am sober writing this. i am not exaggerating any parts of this story at all.

I was in Athens for a concert at the Classic Center last night and as I was waiting in the parking lot, my car was facing the sunset. the sun had already gone down, but the sky still had the orange tint to it. i saw an odd-shaped object falling from the sky straight down
roughly 5 or 10 minutes before 6pm. it was falling VERY slowly, and at first i thought it was a comet. i tried to call my parents, but they weren't home, but i did leave a message about what i saw. i continued to watch this thing fall STRAIGHT down to the earth. i couldn't find anything about this on the radio, and if my phone wasn't a pay per minute phone, i would have called a LOT of people so they could go outside and see this happening.

it probably took maybe 10-15 minutes to fall out of my view, AND while it was falling there were about 5 or 6 different jets (i could see the chem trails) going back and forth perfectly horizontally, flying VERY close to this object that was falling. the jets were clearly flying back and forth around the falling object. one of these jets even came VERY close to the object and looked like it touched the top of the falling object. once again, it was falling very slowly, straight down and the jets were flying much faster than the speed of the object falling.

at around 7pm, i get a message from my dad telling me that there was a HUGE fire in Norcross, which would have been in the same exact location/direction i was looking at.

it was NOT a meteor, and i kept thinking it was either a missile or a satellite falling from space...but there were at least 5 or 6 jets that were flying very close to it, almost looking like they were trying to get a better look at it or possibly even intercept it somehow. i can guarantee you this falling object is what caused the fire. i have never seen anything like this before.

after the falling object was out of my sight, the jets and chem trails stopped...but a few minutes later a VERY small object with a tail that looked like a comet was moving diagonally towards the sky, from the lower left of my view to the upper right. it was not a plane for sure, as the diagonal angle was quite drastic. hell, i really thought it was a missile. this object continued up the sky and out of my viewpoint and into the darker portion of the sky.

ok, so that is my story. i decided to write it to the news organizations because the cause of the fire is "still under investigation" and has "yet to be determined". the news is speculating that a worker at the Lumber Yard that was totaled got "careless", whatever that means. the article states that the fire started on the roof of one of their buildings. NO SHIT! it started on the roof because that's where the damn thing landed!

the more i see that this story is being covered up or undisclosed, the more i believe that i saw an actual UFO...or at least a UFO that was crash landing. i still think that it was either a satellite OR a piece from the space station that got blown away.

but of course, i always have Radiohead's 'Subterranean Homesick Alien' to remind me i am not alone:

The breath of the morning
I keep forgetting
The smell of the warm summer air

I live in a town
Where you can't smell a thing
You watch your feet
For cracks in the pavement

Up above
Aliens hover
Making home movies
For the folks back home

Of all these weird creatures
Who lock up their spirits
Drill holes in themselves
And live for their secrets

They're all uptight
Uptight.. (x7)

I wish that they'd swoop down in a country lane
Late at night when I'm driving
Take me on board their beautiful ship
Show me the world as I'd love to see it

I'd tell all my friends
But they'd never believe
They'd think that I'd finally lost it completely

I'd show them the stars
And the meaning of life
They'd shut me away
But I'd be all right
All right..

I'm just uptight
Uptight.. (x7)

United States (w/ national anthem in middle, like Hendrix did)
Bullet Butterfly
Drown
Bring The Light
Tonight Tonight
Tarantula
Pomp and Circumstance
Glass and the Ghost Children (w/ some REALLY trippy psychedelic guitar solos by Corgan and Schroeder)
Superchrist
Doomsday Clock
1979 (solo acoustic)
Perfect (acoustic w/ Jimmy on tambourine)
Set The Ray To Jerry (f'n awesome!)
Today
Let Me Give The World To You (Machina 2 song...really a surprise)
Rock On ("hey kids rock and roll..rock on")
Heavy Metal Machine (w/ some GREAT solos by Corgan and Schroeder)
-a minute tease of REM's "The One I Love"
-back into Heavy Metal Machine
-back into Rock On

encore:
Hummer

Explosions In The Sky opened up and walked on stage at exactly 7pm. The venue had maybe 50 people in there at the time. The ticket said the show started at 7:30, so people were amazed that the opening band started so early. In fact, the main guy was talking to the crow without even using the microphone, and he wasn’t talking very loud either…yet I’m sure everyone heard him. The are from Austin. Explosions In The Sky sounded absolutely fantastic. They, apparently, are an instrumental band. They did not stop playing at all, and each “song” blended into the next one. They sounded a lot like one of my favorite bands, called National Skyline. As far as a more mainstream reference, it was like Radiohead‘s OK Computer, with more heavy guitar progression…and no vocals. I was quite impressed and I had chills many times from the swaying, psychedelic, progressive guitar sounds. There are 4 people in the band, and for most of the show, there were 3 people on guitar…no bass. One guy did play a bass for a little bit, but mostly it was 3 guitars playing different melodies. The lights were also amazing, which was a surprise since most unheard of opening bands don’t have a light show. Explosions In The Sky was easily one of the best Smashing Pumpkins opening bands I’ve heard. They stopped playing at 7:40pm

The lights went out at 8:13pm and there was music playing from a band called “The Goblins”, known for their soundtracks to obscure horror films. The song that started playing was from one of my favorite horror films, called Suspiria, directed by Dario Argento. After a minute of this creepy sounding music, the Pumpkins walk out on stage. Dressed in their usual attire, Billy had his blue and black striped socks and a long sleeved blue and black striped shirt underneath his all white jumpsuit. Ginger was a lot smaller than I imagined, and much more cute than her pictures. Lisa didn’t come out for a few songs. Jeff and Jimmy looked normal. Jimmy looked happy and healthy.

They kicked it off with United States, as they have many times so far this tour. The speed was at usual Pumpkins live speed…maybe a full step or two faster than the album…this made the drumming even more phenomenal sounding! Jimmy was a blur behind the drum set as he played “the shuffle” perfectly. The sound quality was amongst the best I’ve ever heard from them. Perfectly mixed, with the vocals being the last thing you hear. This was my 8th Pumpkins show, and I had a 2nd row seat. The lights were more than fantastic. The series of triangular shaped spaceship looking light fixtures went off and nearly blinded me. It was the best light set up I’ve ever seen from the Pumpkins…easily.

In the middle of United States, Corgan went off on the guitar psychedelics…and he went into the National Anthem, just like Hendrix did back at Woodstock (and Corgan also did this at the Live 8 Concert this year). It was awesome!

United States ended and next was Bullet w/ Butterfly Wings. There was very little banter from Corgan throughout the show…and no one else said anything at all. No biggie. Bullet sounded normal, loud, good, fast, and like the live versions we have heard of this one before.

3rd was Drown. I was stoked to hear it, even though I was kinda expecting it in a way…according to the set lists. Drown was just like they played it back during the Siamese Dream tour. It wasn’t sloppy, and was definitely a highlight of the show. Next was Bring The Light, followed by Tarantula, and Pomp and Circumstance. All sounded very good and Pomp and Circumstance was a lot better live than on the album. It’s not one of my favorites from Zeitgeist, but live…it’s a damn good song.

Glass & the Ghost Children was next and I was very happy to get this one too. They changed it up a LOT. I love it when they totally rework their songs…making them sound completely different and new. Think of GAGC, except with a lot more focus on the Pink Floyd sounding guitar parts. Both Corgan and Schroeder kicked ass on this one, which was another highlight of the show for me. Right after that, was another underground favorite…Superchrist. I could tell a lot of the people around me hadn’t heard this song before, but me being a BIG fan, I had heard it many times and love it. It was a hard jamming, riff, masterpiece. The only problem? It was too short! Doomsday Clock followed Superchrist, and I got to tell ya…those songs back to back is a perfect combo. Holy crap! Doomsday Clock, if you can believe it, was MUCH better live. They tore it to shreds…once again, NOT making it sloppy.

Corgan pulls out his acoustic guitar for the next two songs, 1979 and Perfect, while the other members disappear back stage. During Perfect, Jimmy came out and hit the tambourine around. He looked a little under worked with such a small instrument in his hands, but he pulled it off well. 1979 acoustic was sung very nice and played very fast. It was surprisingly one of my favorites of the show.

I got one from my wish list with Set The Ray To Jerry, which was next. It was electric, and Corgan had a guitar around his neck, but he never played it. He let Jeff play it and Billy just kinda waved his hands around with the words at the crowd. This song was SO good sounding. Ahhh. I’m glad they are playing this song on this tour. Today was next, and it was nothing new…but it was a hard version, and sounded very impressive for such an old worn out song.

I was VERY stoked when they started Let Me Give The World To You. One of the highlights…easily. They didn’t play this one as fast as the other songs. It was played like it is on Machina II and it was a big treat. Quite possibly the best song of the night, but who’s to say?

The show ended with a very cool, hard, and impressive mixture of the newly mastered Heavy Metal Machine, Rock On, and a minute tease of REM’s The One I Love (as we know REM is from Athens, GA…which is why this was a cool insert). After some very long guitar solos from Corgan and Schroeder, they go back into Heavy Metal Machine and Rock On.

The encore, which was only one song…was Hummer. Since it was Hummer, that made up for the lack of extra encores. Hummer was so darn good, perfect, and non-sloppy. The crowd really liked it, and so did I. The lights went back on at 10:10. They only played for roughly 2 hours, but i was happy. It was impossible to walk out of there without a huge grin on my face. Of course, I am seeing them 3 more times within the next week :p