The SE Gas Crisis, Rants, And Watchmen

Hey peeps, or peep, now and days that's singular or plural, depending on who comes by my site. I rarely post, & I don't go by other people sites & comment like I used to. It's kinda amazing how things change over time. I used to be a posting/commenting maniac & it seems as if I lost the desire to post. I guess I've just put it on the back burner with doing other things in my life. I'm still here though. I just don't blog like I used to. Well, here's what's been going on lately......

The Gas Crisis in The SW

These past two weeks have been frustrating and stressful in the SE states, GA, SC, NC, &AL. You see, it doesn't seem like the national news has been reporting on this alot, so here's the deal. Going on 2 weeks now, the SE has been in a serious gas shortage due to Hurricane's Gustav & Ike. You say, "But those Hurricanes came through like a month ago", yeah well, those Oil refineries are JUST now starting to get cut back on & for Atlanta, our 2 Oil Refineries come straight from the Gulf, where as the rest of the country have other areas from which they get their oil supply. In short, we've been completely F&^$ed for the past 2 weeks. People have been running out of gas, everywhere, stranded. And where there was gas you had to deal with lines miles long & up to hr. waits.

Luckily I found gas on Sunday & I've been good ever since. And the oil refineries are running at pre-hurricanes so we're slowly getting back to normal...

http://www.wsbtv.com/automotive/17597733/detail.html

But let me tell you, these past two weeks showed me how "United" our states really are when certain crisis arise. People seemed more like savages at the gas stations, primates even. No respect, cursing at each other, arguing, cutting in front of people. And it didn't matter if you were a lady or a senior citizen, people were out for their own. Luckily for me I didn't have to deal with that, just the long lines. But you can see how people start to act when they begin to panic. It is a scary feeling not know when you'll have gas. It shows how much we rely on it. We need to usher in alternative sources for running vehicles, situations like this one just drives that point more to home.

On our Local News Today

This story really pinched a nerve in me...

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/17601166/detail.html

A mother of 8 shot in the back & killed after leaving a cash & check building. I can't stand when I hear stories like this one. When people senselessly kill others, for no reason at all. And the idiots that did it don't understand the ripple effect that has, & the lives they affect in the action that they do. Now 8 children are motherless, and for what. I sometimes do wish we lived in a world with superheros, as crazy as it sounds. I'm tired of people getting away with things like this.

The Watchmen

Recently, I've just read one of THE best graphic novels ever, The Watchmen...

Now, like most, I was drawn to it after watching the trailer before seeing The Dark Knight. And after reading it, I wish I read it before I saw the trailer, so when I saw it in theater, I could have been like, "WOOO!!!!", instead of going, "What is THIS?!" in my head. And I wasn't sayin, "what is this" in my mind as if I didn't like what I was seeing, I said it in the sense that I was really intrigued.

So, of course a week or so after The Dark Knight, we had people coming into our store (Barnes & Noble), time after time wanting us to order it for them. We saw that it was starting to spread, so we just ordered a bulk of them & had a table just with The Watchmen Graphic novel on it. I bought a copy myself, & had it on my dresser for like week or so & eventually I got one for my brother too. We'll my bro finished the book before me & told me, "Paul, you need to read it man!". I kept putting it off, but let me tell you, when I started reading it, I could NOT put it down! What makes The Watchmen such a great novel is that it gets deep, & the heroes aren't exactly your typical heroes. Some are dealing with serious issues, all are not exactly your "Superman" type superhero. Some can even be seen as Neutral, neither good nor bad. It's a break away from typical Superhero stories and that's what I love about it. And the fact that this novel came out back in the 80's and still holds strength & can stand on it's own even till this day says alot. It is excellent, it's great, and you need to read it. I don't care who you are. I don't care if you're the type that says, "Eeeh, I don't like comic books", you NEED to read it. Any lover of good story telling will appreciate this one.

So I leave you with the trailer to the movie, for those indivisuals who may have been living under a rock.

Is this lady creepy or what??.....

No matter how bad my sinuses or allergies are, I ain't putting a teapot up my nose. Nasal spray works just fine. They even have exercises to get the excess fluid out your nose. I'm sorry miss neti pot lady. I don't mean to get on you. Don't come after me with your neti pot, I'm sooooorry! And I broke from a lil hiatus just to put this up, heh. Till next time...Peace, Love: Let's Keep it UP!

Playing Linkin Park's One Step Closer

I've been trying to put these videos up for like a week now, and now I'm finally able to put them up. After the Projeck Revolution Concert, I decided to learn some more Linkin Park songs. I decided to learn Linkin Park's One Step Closer. I've always like that song & wanted to learn it for a while, just never took the time to get Guitar Tabs for it. So I finally did that, & it's a fairly easy song to play, not hard at all. Here it is......

Here's me breaking down the indivisual parts of the song.....

The Intro

The Verse

The Chorus, my camera cut off on me on this one.....

That's all for today people. Sorry for the sound quality on my camera as always. Till next time....Peace, Love: Let's Keep It UP!

Linkin Park's Project Revolution 08' In Atlanta

I'm still recovering from yesterday. I was counting the days down for what feels like so long but the day finally came. Yesterday I got to see Linkin Park for the 1st time live, & it was great! I was accompanied by Miss Krystle/klearblueskies . What a way to start my week long vacation from work! I'll give the highlights of the day.....

The 1st major highlight for me was seeing a band that I love, 10 Years live, also for the 1st time, Krystle's 2nd....

Here's the video for their 1st single off the 2nd album they're promoting called "Beautiful"

Not only did we see them perform, but we got to meet them too. On a scale of 1 to 10 on the cool factor, that was an 11. I made sure I spoke to them all & told them how much I like their new record. I didn't want to single out one member of the band & say,"You guys are great!". I talked to the lead singer Jessie just for a brief moment, but it was real cool. I told him how much I like the song on the new record called "Focus", & when I told him, he gave me dap & said,"Thanks bro, I appreciate that, yeah, that song is about my daughter", which I had no idea. So now when I hear that song, I hear it in a different way. I got my shirt signed by him & got this lil booklet, advertising Project Revolution, signed by the whole band.

The 2nd highlight was seeing Chris Cornell live.....

If you don't know Chris Cornell, you don't know rock. This guy is just AMAZING! He was most popular for the band he fronted back in the 90's, Soundgarden, who made the song I will forever remember him for, Black Hole Sun. That song is still one of my favorite tracks that he's ever made. Chris Cornell has one of THE most unique & powerful voice in rock. And he proved to me that even live, that voice of his is still in tact. That's the one thing I can't wait to do when I get back to work, is tell my assistant manager Dan that I saw him live. He's a BIG fan of Cornell, he even resembles him in a way. He played through songs that he did with his fomer bands Soundgarden, Audioslave, & his solo works as well. What I loved the most is when he came out when Linkin Park was playing the 2nd verse of "Crawling", here's the clip that someone actually took from the Atl Show....

That was so unexpected & that crap gave me goosebumps out in that heat lastnight! Such a cool moment.

And of course the final highlight was seeing Linkin Park Live.....

They had a great set list. A good mix of the old and new to satisfy everyone. When I got my tickets for the show I also bought the digital package. Where, in a few days, I'll be able to download the mp3's of Linkin Parks entire performance from last night.

I came away from that night...day, the same as I did when I went to Korn's Family Values tour last summer, totally inspired. To see bands live & to feel that creative energy is enough to inspire anyone. When I go to concerts I'm just so absorbed into it, and I look at how people react to the music. I see that is something I want to do. I want to bring people joy through music, I want to bring people together through music, it's a beautiful sight to see. At one point last night, Chris Cornell pointed the mic stand out in the crowd & had the audience sing a verse of a song while he played guitar, that to me is just an awesome sight. To see these, literally thousands of people, reciting lyrics that you've made, that has to be a great feeling, that people connect to you on that level. 

When we left, Krystle & I played a game of Guitar Hero III. And she showed me, that even though I play guitar, I do NOT have the skills in Guitar Hero just yet. But I'll tell you what it is, it's the fact that I'm used to playing the Nintendo DS version which only has 4 buttons since it's a handheld game, rather than the 5 that's on the actual Guitar perhiperal that's with the console version. Excuses?? Yeah yeah yeeeeah, but that crap is harder than I thought it would be. Just wait, when I eventually buy Guitar Hero 4 when it comes out in the fall, I'll be good.

Well, that's it folks, gonna enjoy the rest of my vacation! Till next time....Peace, Love: Let's Keep it UP!

Heeey Folks....

I just want to first thank everyone for their prayers/concerns for my father. Finally, after a week, he's doing way better than he was. I tell ya, the days after his surgery were very frustrating & nerve wrecking for us all, but he's been getting better every day. So I thank you all....Krystle, my friends, & co-workers for being there for me. There really is power in prayer. I've always been a believer in that, and God didn't let me down. But he did, through all this, made me more aware than ever, that our loved ones won't be here forever. Not saying that anyone is going to die soon, but he just made me realize that I can't take for granted the time my loved ones have here. Thanks again.......

And I have to say, I saw The Dark Knight twice already. Opening night at Midnight, and Saturday. And yes, this movie deserves all the hype it is getting. It is THAT good. And yes, Heath Ledger stole the show as The Joker....

This is the best Comic Book movie EVER! And that's saying something. Because I loved Iron Man, & I always had a love for Spider Man 2 the most, even though I loved them all....Part 3 they didn't get quite right though. But Heath's portrayal of The Joker really displayed, even moreso than Jack Nicolson's, showed how psychotic and sadistic The Joker really is. You know it's good when you're just waiting for the next clip of when they'll show The Joker. Awesome plot, and all the players in this movie were great. And good job to Aaron Eckart too as Harvey Dent/Two Face......

I loved how this movie made you have empathy for him, even when he turned into Two-Face. I would see this movie again & again. I hope you all get a chance to see it. To tell you the truth, if they ended the Batman movies right here, I wouldn't be mad. B/c I don't want them to ruin what greatness this movie has accomplished. I don't want them to get stupid with it like the Batman movies after Batman Returns..well to some, they got stupid WITH Batman Returns, I liked it though.

Well that's all people. I rarely post anymore so I'm glad I'm writing one today. Till next time...Peace, Love: Let's Keep it UP!