STOP TALKING ABOUT EBOLA

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If you live in West Africa, Ebola is a real and terrifying threat. If you live in the United States, you're more likely to get struck by lightning, eaten by a shark or nail Jennifer Lawrence than catch the dreaded virus. Stop freaking out, stop propelling the heinous culture of fear and ignorance that is destroying our society, but most importantly...stop spamming my social media feeds with your asinine bullshit. The sanctity of our Facebook walls is meant for important things [like links to my blog].

Here is some helpful reading material for you Homer Simpson types, ready to barricade yourselves indoors due to your irrational fear of some Ebola toting boogeyman (or boogeymen).

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TLDR:

Ebola is spread through bodily fluids. It's most contagious when victims show signs of infection aka; are projectile vomiting and shooting explosive diarrhea. Fetishes aside, if you refrain from drinking piss or maybe hold off on your regularly scheduled satanic blood sacrifice for the next month or so...you should be just fine.

Xenophobes:
Africa is scary. They have lions and pirates and AIDS [oh my] and they even tried to kill Tom Hanks! Now they've got the Ebola and they're gonna spread their apocalyptic cooties to the Heartland via airplanes. Quarantine the continent! Block all travel to and from and just close your eyes really hard until the danger passes. Sounds great...until you discover that would only make things WORSE.


Finally, you Conspiracy Nuts:
Governments do a lot of shady things [hai Iraq!], but unleashing biological nightmares like Ebola is probably not one of them. It goes back to the MAD doctrine. The idea of Mutually Assured Destruction is why no one actually uses nuclear weapons, because you fuck around with those things and everyone loses. Imperialistic wars w/ American canon fodder = good for business. Biological pandemic that kills humanity = bad.

Ebola is a serious and horrifying thing going on in Africa. This outbreak has more to do with the lack of healthcare infrastructure and education levels [washing the contaminated corpses cuz 'muh social/religious traditions'] in these Third World countries than the virus itself. More people will die from the flu in the USA then Ebola. Chill out. Educate yourselves and stop spamming my feeds!

I'll leave you with some words of wisdom from Fox News of all places. Fox "WAR ON EVERYTHING" News. Think about that one.

R.I.P. Philip Seymour Hoffman

1967-2014

I still haven't come to grips with the fact that Philip Seymour Hoffman has died. Last Sunday, February 2, 2014, his body was discovered in his New York apartment. He died of an apparent heroin overdose. I say apparent because the coroner hasn't released an official cause of death yet, but police claim he was found with a fucking needle in his arm so, I'm just going go with heroin here. Hoffman was regarded as the greatest character actor of his generation and ranked amongst a handful of others as the most talented working actor today. To say his untimely death is a tragedy would be a understatement. This whole ordeal has left me and anyone with a more than passing interest in cinema and the creative arts, absolutely devastated.

Hoffman began his acting career on the stage. I've read a flood of tributes and interviews with the man that state his only real aspiration in life was to be a Broadway actor, capable of performing his craft then riding his bike home in complete anonymity. He had no desire for international stardom. Hoffman's talent was too great however and a string of small film roles in the early 90's would catapult him into the limelight for the next two decades. Hoffman, with his bulky frame and disheveled looks was not the typical Hollywood leading man and he knew it. Instead, Hoffman seeped into the heart and soul of cinema through his incredible laundry list of supporting characters. He rarely hogged the spotlight, but onscreen, Hoffman always stole the show. His performances were rife with emotion and felt less like an actor than a literal exposed nerve. The vulnerability in his performances was undoubtedly tied to deep psychological turmoil. Whatever dark inner forces led this talented man to seek refuge in drugs also served as the conduit for some of the greatest acting ever captured on film. It's a damming double edged sword that I wish cut less deep.

Philip Seymour Hoff was one of my favorite actors. I've basically grown up watching the man. He was the douche-y kid in Scent of a Woman, crazy Dusty in Twister, and had two iconic roles in films that changed my life: Scotty J in Boogie Nights and Brandt in The Big Lebowski. Those two movies changed the way I looked at film, forever. I'm not going to list all his great roles because that would take forever. The man's filmography is damn near untouchable. Even when Hoffman was slumming in shitty films for a paycheck, he always delivered onscreen. I was fortunate enough to watch Hoffman in glorious 70mm in his now iconic performance in The Master. I sat in the theater mesmerized, as Hoffman's face was projected on the Arc Light's massive Cinerama Dome. Finally, I thought, a screen capable of sustaining this man's gargantuan talents. I felt lucky and privileged to live in a time when actors like Phoenix, Bale, Fassbender and the most consistent of the bunch, Philip Seymour Hoffman, delivered such captivating and inspirational performances. I had grown up watching Hoffman as merely a side character, only within the past few years did I become aware of/fully appreciate the scope of his talent. I thought there would be more films to enjoy. It pains me at how wrong I was.

Hoffman's death is disgusting, infuriating and utterly heartbreaking. At a time when modern culture revolves around vapid reality stars and teen pop drivel, Philip Seymour Hoffman was a national treasure to anyone with a working brain. I'm saddened for his family's loss, I'm outraged by his selfishness and weep for such wasted potential and the future greatness we have all been collectively robbed of by his passing. From the grizzly details surrounding his death, we all know he wasn't a perfect human being, but there is no doubt that Philip Seymour Hoffman was the perfect actor. He will be greatly missed.

Movie Review: Captain Phillips

Tom Hanks and Paul Greengrass are a match made in heaven. The most beloved actor/human on the planet commands the audience's attention with another career defining performance (adding to the pile), while the journalist turned adrenaline junkie director sneaks up and hijacks the viewers emotions for the film's entire run time. A dazzling mix of sentiment and suspense that's equal parts entertaining, and exhausting.

Hanks stars as Captain Phillips, the head hancho of a U.S. cargo ship that gets hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia. The story is based on the true life events of the real Maersk Alabama hijacking in 2009, so no spoilers here...just old memories I guess. These ripped from the headlines/biopic films usually go two ways, either they stick to the source material and try to be extra dry and authentic, or head the opposite route and ham everything up with cringe worthy melodrama and get all Lifetime movie of the week on us. Thankfully, Captain Phillips does neither. Like I said before, it strikes a near perfect balance between realism and entertainment.

It seems like director Paul Greengrass does everything in his power to make the viewers knuckles turn white. The first act of the movie rolls through like a conveyer belt, jumping from one quick exposition scene to the next until, holy shit: "We're being invaded!" and then things really go into pants shitting high gear. The second act meanders a bit, what do you expect when you're stuck in a claustrophobic lifeboat on the high seas, but the top notch performances from Hanks and the first time actors cast as the Somali pirates keeps the film intact. Then there's third act, where the U.S. Navy finally gets involved and Hank's performance goes from great (as usual) to "he might just need a third Oscar" level.

I tried putting my own Millennial bias aside while watching Captain Philips but at this point it's almost impossible so I'll just come out and say it: Tom Hanks can do no wrong. For people of my generation, who grew up watching him dance in Big, curse in A League of Their Own and run like the wind in Forrest Gump, he's more than just an actor. He's been an AIDS victim (Philadelphia), an astronaut (Apollo 13), a war hero (Saving Private Ryan) and a Castaway (duh). He's the star of the Playtone galaxy (That Thing You Do) and Andy's favorite companion (Toy Story), the lovable everyman who just so happens to be the highest grossing movie star of all time. I think it's safe to say I've learned more life lessons from Tom Hank's movies than I have from real life "role models." Sometimes, I even read/ hear certain things in his voice. Watching Tom Hanks suffer through the final act of Captain Phillips felt like someone was strangling the embodiment of my childhood before my eyes. It was like the furnace scene in Toy Story 3 all over again. It should go without saying that Hanks is a phenomenal actor and even if his performance in Captain Phillips was lackluster (which it certainly is not), even if the man who won back to back Oscars in 93' & 94' decided to phone it in this time, I would have still been on the verge of tears.

In short, Captain Phillips aka The Tom Hanks show, is one hell of a ride. With Hanks and Greengrass in cahoots, the emotion and suspense levels are off the charts.

Rundown on The Shutdown

It’s a cold fall morning. Your alarm rings to no avail. You should have been up five minutes ago. You need coffee. You gotta get ready for work. Shit, you need gas. Oh well. Fuck it. This bed is too warm. You’re just too, damn, comfy.

Uh oh. Getting a lil too warm. Search your feelings, you know it be true…you gotta piss.

NOOOOOOOOOOO!

Just a little longer. You have enough gas to make it. You’ll be fine.
Fuck--- light is creeping in from that busted window blind.

NO. You’re staying. You haven’t been this snug in ages. You can hold it. Just curl into a ball and forget about the yellow river of urine about to crest. 

(Stomach gurgles) 
Uh oh. That ain’t hunger. Your bowels are saying “sup bro?” You gotta take a shit.

(Loud gurgles)
A mad shit.

NO. Who cares? You’re calling in sick. Intestines be damned you can’t risk it. You’re just so fucking comfy right now it’s ridiculous.

(Insane squishy gurgle)
Well, that about settles it. Time to get up and…

NO! We’re calling in remember? We can’t afford to get up right now, we might never be this comfy again!

Look, I want to stay in bed as much as you do but, we gotta hit that toilet man. ASAP.

STAY! Call in. Do some laundry later, clean up…

OK. That’s it. We are not SHITTING THE BED. We're late for work. I'm not trying to get fired for lounging in bed, and dude...we got some napalm diarrhea over here. We’re getting out of bed: NOW.

(sobbing)
B-But, we’re so comfy right now. Oh God. Well, we fought the good fight. We just didn’t win. Our days of being comfy are over.

Toilet seat lifts: explosion.

That’s basically how the 113th United States Congress handled the government shutdown earlier this month. The battle to defeat The Affordable Care Act/ObamaCARE ended long ago. It may be a flawed piece of legislation and already looks like its being implemented poorly, but it passed both houses of Congress, was reaffirmed with the last Presidential election…and was upheld by The Supreme Court. It’s over dude. It’s not going anywhere.

Unfortunately, some members of Congress (mainly House Republicans and deranged Senators like Ted Cruz) couldn’t be bothered to swallow the bitter pill of democracy/reality and realize that you can’t always get what you want and tried tying their continued fight against ObamaCare with the Federal Budget and Debt Ceiling negotiations in one last gasp of desperation/insanity. So they threw an ideological tantrum and held the government hostage for close to three weeks. Now funding the government is one of the most basic functions Congress performs. Humans need water and food to survive, the government needs Congress to appropriate funds to do stuff. It’s that simple. Republican members of the House were content with staying in their comfy beds of conservative ideology and ignore their basic duties to fund the government and ya know, not shit all over the place.

So what happened? Well, in the end, just one day prior to certain economic catastrophe, Congress was able to limp out of bed and reopen the government. Congratulations Congress, you’ve proved to be slightly more responsible than infants in not soiling yourselves. Kudos. Don’t get cocky though, I know potty training is a big deal, but you’ve still got a long road ahead.

FAIL

MIA: Birthday Week

"Hey bud, let's party!"

Hey hey Blogger world! I've been MIA lately...sorry about that. I took a mini vacation down to Cornado Island this past week to celebrate my *gasp* 28th birthday. Fun times were had. I also enjoyed one of the gnarliest concert/time travel experiences last week, watching amazing Iron Maiden, Metallica and Rage Against The Machine tribute bands perform at the House of Blues in Anaheim. I should be back to blogging soon, but til then:

Awesome Photo (15)

I love Converge. I love The Wu-tang Clan. What happens when you combine each group's iconic imagery? The best fucking tattoo of all time that's what!

Jane Doe Clan Ain't Nuthing ta Fuck Wit.

I'm one of those indecisive pansies who's too terified to actually get tattoos, but cyborg_gym has one gnarly tattoo that I totally approve of and secretly plan to steal one day and pass off as my own.

Seriously dude, you win the internetz for this one:

*BONUS VIDEOS*
Bump some Converge/Wu-Tang to celebrate this Awesome Photo.

R.I.P. Jeff Hanneman & SLAYER

R.I.P. 1964-2013

Jeff Hanneman, the pioneering guitarist of metal icons Slayer, died of liver failure yesterday in Southern California. He was 49 years old. Jeff had been sidelined from active duty in Slayer since 2011, after he contracted necrotizing fasciitis, a gruesome flesh eating disease, from an apparent spider bite. Jeff had been recovering at home while Slayer continued touring with a replacement guitarist (Jeff's friend Gary Holt of Exodus) until he could rejoin the band. Now that is an impossibility. You might recall how upset I was when Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo had been ousted from the band in February. This is something else entirely.

Jeff Hanneman was more than just a guitar player. By all accounts, Jeff was Slayer. Jeff and Kerry King are championed as twin guitar heroes and rightfully so. Their discordant dueling guitar solos are a trademark of Slayer's sound. However, the Hanneman/King duo whose collaborations fill the liner notes of Slayer's catalog can't hold a candle to the songs Hanneman wrote on his own. Yes, Jeff Hanneman wrote the bulk of Slayer's greatest songs alone. "Angel of Death," "South of Heaven" "War Ensemble" "Dead Skin Mask" and the band's magnum opus, "Raining Blood." There simply is no Slayer without Jeff Hanneman.

I was crushed by the news of Jeff's passing yesterday. Slayer was hands down, one of the most important bands/influences of my life. I'll share my Slayer story another time. This is for Jeff. May he reign in blood, somewhere south of heaven. You are missed sir.

Awesome Photo (14)

The Presidents of The United States of America. Not the band..the living Presidents (aka: Super Friends) all met up last week at the opening of G.W. Bush's new recycling center in, wait, Bush II has a library? Oh the hell with this.

*NOTE*
Johnson, Nixon and Reagan all participated via satellite: from hell. Ford was cool doe, he liked nachos.

Tragedy in Boston

A series of explosions rocked the Boston Marathon yesterday, killing 3 and injuring over 100 more.

Despite all the senseless carnage in today's world, events like this are still horrifying when they occur (and they do, all too often it seems). When the news of the bombing first broke yesterday, I immediately went online for more information. I couldn't bare to watch traditional news coverage on television, where the bumbling anchor repeats the same three facts over and over and spends more time discussing the things they don't know then informing the audience about what's actually taking place. Through internet searches and social media, a stream of information was made available to me, including graphic photos that in a sense, provided far more raw and honest than I bargained for. Luckily, the death toll in this attack is considerably low, despite the massive injuries which have included several limb amputations, considering how populated the area was. Even with such a relatively small death count, the heart breaking images provided by both news agencies and spectators monitoring the race, has made this one of the most jarring tragedies on American soil I can recall.

Bummed out? I know. Time for some uplifting music to help lift our collective spirits. From Boston's (well Salem actually) own favorite DIY hardcore motivational enthusiasts Converge, this is "Last Light," and it's dedicated to the hearts still beating. 

GAZA broke up.

R.I.P. GAZA

I'm crushed. I've fawned over this band numerous times here at Jim's Fear and never thought I'd be writing this but alas, Salt Lake City grind/sludge/hardcore heroes Gaza have disbanded after nearly ten years together. Here's the band's official statement on the matter, taken from their facebook page:

Gaza is no longer a band. A big thank you to anyone that has supported us. Some of us will continue to make music together.

Sucks. Gaza was one of the most exciting and inspirational bands in the underground metal scene. I really hoped they would continue to soldier on after the false rape allegations from this past winter had been discredited, and if 2012's No Absolutes In Human Suffering was any indication, they still had several great albums left in them. I don't know the details behind the split, but 3/4's of the band are currently members of a side project called Bird Eater. I guess some Gaza is better than none at all?

I'm so glad I got to see them one last time before all this went down. In today's fucked up world, Gaza's angry, yet socially conscious music will be sorely missed, but will always remain relevant.

RUMOR: Christopher Nolan controls DC Universe

DC: Nolan is the perfect director...FOR YOU.

I didn't want to believe this because it sounded too insane to be true. Then I remembered how Hollywood truly functions ($$$) and realized, it's just crazy enough to work.

The Latino Review is reporting that both Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale will return in Warner Bros (parent company of DC Comics) upcoming Justice League film. Nolan swore he was done directing anymore comic book movies after last year's The Dark Knight Rises concluded his blockbuster Batman film trilogy, and Bale said he wouldn't dream of reprising his role as the caped crusader without Nolan. Well, Nolan is an executive producer for this year's Superman reboot, Man of Steel, so he hasn't completely abandoned his post in the DC cinematic universe. Now this dude from The Latino Review (who has a ridiculously accurate track record of breaking scoops with DC films) is reporting that Warner Bros is so desperate to curb Disney's domination of the geek franchise market, both Avengers & Star Wars now belong to the mouse, they are willing to move heaven and Earth to get the key players from their own billion dollar Batman franchise on board with their new Justice League project. Check it out:


Justice League Scoop! from Mayimbe Media on Vimeo.

I don't know what to believe. After hearing those arguments, it sounds like anything is possible at this point. All I know is that I've been a Marvel fanboy for the past 20 years so DC and their Justice League movie can suck it! I'm kidding. I'm actually kind of stoked for this new Superman flick (the trailer where Supes gets thrown into the bank vault? *SWOONS*) and if Warner Bros can pull this Nolan deal off, every nerd in the world will be better off for it. 

What do you folks think about this mega Oprah Nolan rumor?

Oscar Shutout

damn

The 85th Academy Awards aired last night. I had to work and missed the entire broadcast. Looks like I didn't miss much however, since all my favorites lost in every category. That's right folks, I know how pick em'.

Here's the rundown:

Argo is a damn fine movie, I even said so HERE, but I don't think it was Best Picture worthy. Same deal with Jennifer Lawrence. She's great in Silver Linings Playbook...but Jessica Chastain and Naomi Watts are friggin phenomenal in Zero Dark Thirty and The Impossible. Daniel Day Lewis will always be my homeboy, but Joaquin Phoenix's performance in The Master is, well it's just as uncanny and fearless as Daniel Day Lewis was in There Will Be Blood. Phoenix out DDL's DDL in this case.

Speaking of The Master, Philip Seymour Hoffman was ROBBED. Flat out robbed. Christoph Waltz is Tarantino's new go to guy, and he was great as Hans Landa 2.0 in Django Unchained but he doesn't come close to Hoffman's firebrand performance. Since we're on the subject of Tarantino, he needs to be stopped. I love the bastard and really enjoyed his latest film, but he's just getting out of hand. Winning Best Original Screenplay will only reinforce his bad habits, meaning we'll be stuck with more of his overtly long, bloated and campy films for the foreseeable future.

I wish Helen Hunt, or Amy Adams would have walked away with the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, but Anne Hathaway really stole the show with her five minute performance (or so I'm told).  Notice I didn't pick anyone for Best Director. Since Paul Thomas Anderson and Kathryn Bigelow were snubbed in the category I really didn't have a favorite. I'm cool with Ang Lee (he gave me Jennifer Connelly in Hulk, I'm forever thankful), so I can't hate on him.

TLDR:None of my horses came in. Bummer.

*NOTE*
Here's a list of great films that either lost or were snubbed for Best Picture altogether:

King Kong
Modern Times
Citizen Kane
The Wizard of Oz
Rebel Without a Cause
Psycho
To Kill a Mockingbird
Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
The Good The Bad and The Ugly
Bonnie and Clyde
2001: A Space Odyssey
Easy Rider
Taxi Driver
Network
Star Wars
Apocalypse Now
Raging Bull
E.T.
Glory
Full Metal Jacket
Goodfellas
Pulp Fiction
The Shawshank Redemption
LA Confidential
The Truman Show
American History X
The Thin Red Line
Saving Private Ryan
Requiem For a Dream
City of God
Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind
Brokeback Mountain
Zodiac
There Will Be Blood
The Social Network

Fear not Zero Dark Thirty, you're in great company.

Dave Lombardo: Out of SLAYER =/

Woe is me. Seriously. DrumTHRONE inductee, thrash metal pioneer and all around coolest drummer in the world, Dave Lombardo is out of Slayer. Again.

Dave released the following statement on his facebook page last night:

Statement From Dave Lombardo Regarding Slayer Australian Tour 2013

I want to personally apologize to all of our fans in Australia who have bought tickets for the tour expecting to see me in my usual place on the drums.

So that you all know the truth, as of the end of the business day on February 14th, I was notified that I would not be drumming for the tour in Australia. I’m saddened, and to be honest I am shocked by the situation.

Last year, I discovered 90% of Slayer’s tour income was being deducted as expenses including the professional fees paid to management, costing the band millions of dollars and leaving 10% or less to split amongst the four of us. In my opinion, this is not the way a band’s business should operate. I tried rectifying it by letting my band mates know, and Tom and I hired auditors to figure out what happened, but I was denied access to detailed information and the necessary back up documents.

I spent the Christmas and New Year holidays realizing I had toured all over the world in 2012, but yet, had not been paid (except a small advance) or provided a proper accounting for a full year's sweat and blood. On top of this, I was told that I would not be paid until I signed a long form contract which gave me no written assurance of how much or on what basis management would deduct commissions, nor did it provide me access to the financial budgets or records for review. It also forbade me to do interviews or make statements having to do with the band, in effect a gagging order.

Last Monday, I sat down with Kerry and Tom to rehearse for Australia and to propose a new business model that I felt was the best way forward for Slayer to confidently protect itself so we could do what we do best . . . play for the fans. Kerry made it clear he wasn’t interested in making changes and said if I wanted to argue the point, he would find another drummer. On Thursday, I arrived at rehearsals at 1 pm as scheduled, but Kerry did not show. Rather, at 6:24 pm I received an email from the lawyers saying I was being replaced for the Australian dates.

I remain hopeful that we can resolve our issues. But once again, I sincerely apologize to all of our fans in Australia who spent their money expecting to see the 3 of us original Slayer members.
I look forward to seeing you in the future.

Sincerely,
Dave Lombardo

This isn't the first time Dave has left the band. There were brief stints in the 80's where he'd bail and they'd tour with different drummers but it was pretty clear Lombardo, one of Slayer's founding members, belonged behind the kit. He would return and then they'd record another awesome album and the Slaytanic show rolled on. This lasted until 1992 when Dave permanently quit the band to pursue other musical endeavors and spend time with his family. Slayer continued touring and recording after his departure but their musical output for most of the 90's, aka the non-Lombardo years, are hardly noteworthy. In fact it wasn't until Dave rejoined the band in 2002 that Slayer began their current wave of rejuvenation and success.

Who's Next???

With Jeff Hanneman still sidelined due to that pesky flesh eating virus he contracted in 2011, and Lombardo seemingly ousted from the band, what does this mean for the future of Slayer? I'm sad right now guys. Hold me...

I'll leave you with what is probably my favorite Dave Lombardo video around, one that I know I've already posted in the past but its just that damn good...

Hell is empty and all the Devils are here:

Last week's massacre in Connecticut was beyond horrible. It took a little bit of time for me to wrap my ahead around what actually happened. I've never been so ashamed of my species before.

These are odd times we live in folks. Mankind has progressed enough to accomplish great things, yet not enough to stop killing each other. This event will probably start a long debate about gun control and mental health issues here in The United States and I think it's about time. But that isn't enough.

The day of the shootings, after spending all morning shell shocked in front of the TV, I went to run some errands in the afternoon. As I locked my door the lady from the apartment across the way was coming home. We didn't say anything to each other but we made eye contact. I knew from her expression that we were both in the same boat. Disgusted, frightened, heartbroken people. People who under normal circumstances, were too caught up with the mundane "importance" of their everyday lives, and never interact with one another. But not here. In that hallway, on that horrible day, we were just human beings. Acknowledging each others existence and hoping for better days ahead.


I wish one day, this song won't be so accurate.

Awesome Photo (11)

Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney and President Obama doing McKayla's famous: "not impressed" face at the White House.

The sixteen year old gymnast made headlines during this past summer's Olympic Games with her less than enthused reaction to winning the silver medal. The "not impressed" face is now her thing and getting Obama in on the action is priceless! I also think this photo is an indirect attack on Romney's campaign but maybe I'm just being silly.



*BONUS PHOTO*
McKayla and Female Obsession honoree Maria Menounos are also, not impressed.

Election 2012

douche v. turd

It's election day here in the USA. I'm not impressed with either of the two candidates running for President. Romney is a corporate shill and Obama is hardly the agent of "change" he promised to be in 2008. Back then, anyone who wasn't George W. Bush would have done fine. Not so much these days. Obama is basically Bush Jr. in some regards also. Total bummer.

That's the problem with the American two party system. Democrats or Republicans, both groups are beholden to the corporate interests that REALLY run this country. I may share more ideological views with Democrats, but they're a bunch of passive aggressive pussies who will never get any real socioeconomic change done. Vote Republican? Are you fucking nuts? Really.

Too bad we don't live in a world where Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate for President, stands a chance of winning. I spent some time on Jill's website this past week looking over her stance on the issues and thought: THIS is the change we need in America. Check it out HERE.She won't win though. She doesn't stand a chance actually. Bummer. Major bummer. The American political system is broken. I'm tired of choosing between the lesser of two evils, between a douche and fucking turd. Choices like that, leave us with really no choice at all.

We need more choices on election day. REAL choices. Until that day comes, the sadly prophetic words of the late George Carlin with remain true:

Collecting CDs

stock photo...my collection has more SLAYER

So I was reading this story on Yahoo News the other and had a massive nostalgia wave wash over me. The compact disc is now 30 years old.

I know what some of you are thinking...what's a compact disc? Ha. Damn you iTunes! I still buy CDs whenever possible. I say whenever possible because, I usually can't find the CD I want. There's an FYE in the mall by my house but it's selection is crap. Same with Best Buy (no...there's is even worse). Oh how I long for the days of Tower Records, the Wherehouse and my old alma mater, Sam Goody. When you could get lost inside the record store and come out with life changing musical discoveries based solely on the album's artwork. Thank tha LAWD for Amoeba Music in Hollywood. They're got just about everything you could ever want (CDs, vinyl, cassette tapes, DVDs, Blu-ray, VHS, Laserdiscs!)...and more. But it's still a drive down there and who has the time for that?

No, it seems like the compact disc, and music/physical media in general has reached the end of the line. Even mp3s are old hat. Instant streaming is direction we're heading in...bummer. Here's a look back at some of the first CDs I remember owning:


The 1st CD I remember opening as a (Christmas?) gift and cranking this song on repeat after seeing Dangerous Minds:
"I'm 23, never will I live to see 24, the way things is going I don't know..." I am now older than Coolio in this song. FUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.

This next song ruled the airwaves like no other back in the day. I owned the CD but didn't really like any of the other tracks on the album, also, was too young to understand what the inside artwork meant (dripping condom cartoon figures holding guns), but still thought it was was cool =p


Asked my mom to purchase this CD for me after getting a new pair of glasses from Lens Crafters. All the kids in school were talking about how cool it was, so I figured getting this record would offset the glasses. Smooth huh?

Got my tickets for No Doubt in November (and what?!). Some things never change.

And finally, the album that got me started on the downward spiral of aggressive music. The precursor to the heavy metal virus that would contaminate my soul in high school:
I played this album a lot when I first got it (Columbia House mail order whats up?!) but once I got my first portable disc-man player, I listened to this album 24/7 all day erryday son!

So many found memories playing those compact discs. I guess it helps that I was an obsessive, geeky type collector who never lost or scratched my CDs. Happy 30th birthday Mr. Compact Disc. Hope you make it to 35.

Alright gang, what are some of your favorite early CDs you remember?

Voting Republican: MFW

I'm not the biggest fan of President Obama. In fact, I wish someone had some balls in the Democratic Party and issued a Primary challenge against him (just to spice things up). That being said, unless you're raking in over six figures a year, you've got to be certifiable to vote for the alternative, Republican candidate: Mitt Romney. The dude is the corporate shill of all shills. His humanity is non-existent. He was programmed by Skynet's greedy sister company, Buynet, and is quite literally, the Terminator for crony capitalism.   

"Uncle Bob??"

So you can imagine my reaction when I log onto facebook and see non-millionaires I know, clicking Mitt Romney's "like" button. It looked something like this:

Get More:

For more from NextMovie: More videos | Trailers | Movie news | DVD & Blu-Ray

Batman & child w/ cancer @ Disneyland

Remember that amazing story from the summer where Ron Perlman appeared as Hellboy for a sick child from the Make-A-Wish foundation? Well, we got another one folks.

"a real hero and a real human beeeeing"

four-year old leukemia patient named Jayden wanted to meet Batman. Friends and family got involved and started raising a ruckus online and somehow word got back to Christian Bale (aka Patrick Bateman aka, The Dark Knight himself/Bruce Wayne). What does Bale do? He flies the young boy and his family out from Ohio to spend the day at Disneyland with the caped crusader.

How rad is that? I mean yeah he didn't dress up in the costume and I'm sure he didn't speak in the gargling nails-Batman voice all day (which would probably have been frowned upon since Disney owns Marvel and Batman is Warner/DC...) but he took the kid's entire family out to the Magic Kingdom and still managed to fulfill that little boy's wish at the same time.

That photo was taken inside Disney's uber exclusive Club 33, which has like a 14 year waiting list for new membership. Christian Bale FTW.

Read more about this uplifting story HERE.

Balls of Steel Award goes to...

This crazy ass dude from Ukraine doing pull-ups 360+ feet in the air. Fucking HELL this dude is insane.
Wow. See those headphones in his ear? I wonder what he's listening to? What could possibly get him stoked enough to accomplish this?