On the Beat, originally uploaded by richiesoft.

Policeman on parade at London Gay Pride 2008

J bought the above Vespa about a month ago. The helmet is mine, doesn't it go well with the scooter? Isn't she (the Vespa) pretty? He LOVES riding it. He has been having lots of fun. We both took a motorcycle class which consisted of both in classroom and on the range learning. It was fun and let me tell you the motorcycle part was not all that easy. I have to admit, the big cruisers and I did not get along and I had to actually go back a second time. I went back the following weekend and this time I had a much better instructor, Jessica. She was awesome and she explained thing well and was very patient.

Much to my chagrin a camera guy showed up and next thing I know they tell me that there is a reality star that is participating in the program that day.  For the next couple of hours we had two cameras and a sound guy following us around and taping away. I was personally annoyed because the *star* was having a hard time on the bike and was holding us all back and we had to constantly wait for her. She could not even ride in a straight line and missed all the objectives. She was finally told to come back again. Just in case you are wondering, no I am not going to be on camera. I requested to not be shown. I think all this reality TV is so stupid and useless.

Anyway, back to my story. I went to the DMV yesterday and turned in my certificate of completion of the course and got my new driver's license which reflects both class A and M1. How cool is that??!!!

Now you ask, have you been riding la bella Vespa? The short answer to that is no. The longer answer is I rode it around the block and it was awesome. However, I am too big of a chicken and I am scared. I am not necessarily scared of not knowing what to do. I feel that I learned a lot about how to control the bike, to lean when turning, keep your head up, look at the end of your turn, how to go over obsticles, and never break without straightening the bike.  I've got all of those things down. What I am scared of is the fact that our vespa is a 250 and a little heavy for me and my biggest fear is other cars, and SUVs in particular.  Most people know that I am not a fan of driving and the two accidents that I have had in the past  4 years have not helped. Neither one of those were my fault. The first one a girl ran a stop sign, hit me on the passenger side and totaled my car, affectionately known as blueberry.  The second accident aronically happend exactly four years and 20 days later. I was stopped at a red light on my way to school when this guy slammed on his breaks and next thing I know his front hood was underneath the back of my car. See people come out of no where and hit me! According to J I turn into a nut when I drive and cuss at people left and right when they come too close or cut me off. So can you imagine the freak I would be if I were to ride a scooter when you HAVE to drive difensively???

I am working on getting myself to go for a ride and not freak out. Let's face it these things don't eat up gas like my wonderful CR-V does. J says la bella Vespa gets 60 miles per gallon. How sweet is that??!! :) That should be enough motivation for me!

It's a tough time to be a rock band right now. The whole garage revival thing that was all the rage around 2000 has pretty much died down as more and more musicians realize there's more to it than putting a plural noun after the word "The" and calling yourself a band. The Internet has made it so any Joe Schmo with a computer and a cord can record an album and sell it to the world on iTunes, but there's so much of it out there, it's damn near impossible to sort out what's really the best (unless Apple does it for you in a TV commercial). Oh, and Battles is around, so every other band in the world has to live up to their new standard. Because Battles is the greatest band on the planet. Are the members of Battles the world's most technically skilled musicians? Probably not. Does Battles make the best music on Earth? I love their tunes, but I couldn't argue that their songwriting itself is the absolute BEST, nope. But as a band, a group, a collective, four individuals musically congealed into a single, breathing, siamise-like thinking unit, they are THE greatest, the #1, with very little doubt. In fact, no doubt. Battles is the greatest band on the planet. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself.

If you haven't even heard of them (which is likely, and I recognize and respect that.. "Best instrumental math-rock group" isn't exactly its own Grammy category yet), Battles is something of an indie / prog supergroup, a quartet consisting of members of other moderately well-known (but no less super) groups called Don Caballero, Lynx and, perhaps most notably, Helmet. (Remember "Unsung"??? You would if you heard it, trust me. Youtube that shit.) On the surface, their music is a mixture of complex rhythms, wacky time signatures, machinery-like sounds, strange but impressive unison riffs, something that I guess you could classify as "abstract vocals"... and more... all held together by eight good ears, a brilliant sense of structure, and, sometimes, believe it or not, a hook! Those are a lot of adjectives, and nouns I turned into adjectives, but I think what it all means, basically, is you have to hear/see it to understand. Listen to 2007's "Mirrored" (best album of last year) and you might have a better understanding. Better, yes, but not complete. For the techies out there, it gets even better. One look at the album art from the aforementioned disc and you'll see that Battles take quite a bit of pride in their gear -- all their guitars, keyboards, amps, pedals and other fun stuff -- most likely because it's so fundamental to the sound they create. But unlike some of these other literally "electronic" artists with cool gear out there, Battles create everything live, with some nasty tricks up their sleeves. A few strums on some strings, a few pushes of some buttons, and they've crafted a perfectly timed, perfectly looped guitar riff; seconds later, that one simple loop has turned into another, and then suddenly it has become loops upon loops, a sonic casserole of rhythmic layers and, lo and behold, an entire song. Add some quirky melodies over that, some computer-like drum beats, some wacked out, modified singing, and you have the Battles sound, robot music created by four real guys on the spot. It's electronic, no doubt, but it is real. It is human. So what, specifically, would I say qualifies them for the honor of GBOTP?

• No one else could recreate their music. Even with all the same amount of practice, the same exact gear, and an obsessive knowledge of their songs, it would be really, really freaking impossible to make it sound exactly like a true Battles recording and/or show. I have a pretty decent comprehension of music, technology, pedals, etc., and I gotta say, I can only explain to you what it is that Battles does... maybe, MAYBE 60 percent of the time. That is true individuality. Not just anyone can create that.

• They DO IT LIVE!!! (to use the Bill O'Reilly terminology), and they pull it off. It would be too easy for Battles to drown in a diluted sea of "laptop DJs" that use software and a few mouse clicks to pull up stored sound at the same tempos and create "live" songs from saved samples. Battles is the greatest BAND on the planet because, in spite of the fact that their songs often come off sounding like some kind of processed, heavily produced, 64-track MIDI recording, they create it all live on the spot, as individuals, with strings, keys, skins, and one really tall crash cymbal (no really, look up some pictures). No pre-saved samples. Each member has specific parts, and he just nails them all. And it's all created right then and there.

• What they play is borderline impossible to accomplish. This is kind of a mix of those first two points. I've tried basic looping on a small scale. It's tough to keep it going for more than 8 measures before it sounds like a garbled mess of 6-year-olds at their first music lesson. Battles can make it sound perfect and deliberate for entire songs. Hell, entire SHOWS. You need to have absolutely pristine and precise tempo control to lock together like they do. That's tough for one person. Very difficult for two people. Near impossible for three. Four? Well, Battles can, can you? No.

• It's the future, now. It has to be. In the same way that Radiohead recently invented a whole new genre of music that can really only be described as "sounds like Radiohead," so might it go with Battles over the next few years . Because anyone who goes and sees them will eagerly want to return home, plug in a Gibson Echoplex loop pedal, and create the next year's greatest album. It's fun, it's impressive, and it sounds great.

Look, there's lots of good stuff out there. Plenty of awesome rock groups are drawing thousands of fans every night, making great music in cities across the globe. But Battles are doing something so totally different, so totally advanced, and so totally untouchable, it would be tough to argue that any other band on the scene is as tightly "banded" together as they are. See comments above about Battles being the future of music, and consider how good of an idea it would be to see them now, before they blow up and the only venue you can see them in is a multi-thousand capacity outdoor lunatheater on the Moon (where they will still be the greatest band on the planet).

- Paul

Last week was fairly uneventful. Grant went to camp in the mornings and Luke & I did this and that. For some reason, the week really dragged on. Friday night, we had some friends over for Ian's "homemade" pizza and then the rest of the weekend we did this and that. Today (Wed), Grant, Luke & I went to Cranial Tech for Luke's helmet appt. They said all is going great and he just needs to round out his front right forehead and the left side some more. The PT said that it shouldn't be any longer than 4-6 weeks. I made a comment that I was "over it" and she said that we would reassess at the next appt. (July 30) and see if we only need one more or two more adjustments. It's just getting so hard to deal with the heat and I just am really tired of it. It's been 11 weeks which doesn't seem THAT long but it, for some reason, feels like eternity these days. Well, that's it for right now.. We'll write more real soon.

Below are some recent pictures of the boys:

!!!

Journal Post

Access to the mines has been discovered. You will soon be able to explore its depths! There are tales of new critters roaming the mines, but they are trapped in Withering’s evil mining equipment. Be on the lookout for a light source that will help you to see in dark places. Spread the word and help those poor critters!

We aren’t quite sure what this is, but it doesn’t look good. Take a look for yourself at what Chief Pathfinder Burrows came across as he was burrowing through Dizzywood’s undergrounds:

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the new critters that people saw goes with this sooo when we get in the mine we get new critters

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to get in the mine i think we need a mining helmet like with a light on it, that goes with the new tab in your backpack

to get the sunny day glasses go to breakwater beach and ghostray the surfboard

i think the mining helmet will be behind soemthing so make sure u have ghostray and search  beyond the.....nevermind just go look!

~frosty ]]> http://mygutinstinct.wordpress.com/?p=275 Tue, 15 Jul 2008 13:37:52 +0000 joshuamb http://mygutinstinct.wordpress.com/?p=275

From the dinosaur-esque picture in the background to the thumbs up to the T-shirt, this picture makes me happier than ever beer any could. Wait—that's a lie.

kami baru memasukkan helm replica kamen rider kabuto kedalam our product, silahkan liat semua produk kami di page Our product

ok tunggu update kami selanjutnya, masih banyak produk2 yg belum saya masukan...

(sorry for the lack of picture)

Volevo parlare del concerto dei Battles, visto mercoledì alla Festa dell’Unità di Caracalla, ma oggi fa veramente troppo caldo. Vi dirò giusto che, dopo averli ascoltati su disco e averne sentito parlare con entusiasmo anche da gente di cui mi fido, ero molto curioso di vederli: alla fine, è stato meglio di quanto pensassi, considerato che il noise strumentale non è proprio il mio genere. Sudo troppo per ricordare tutto con precisione, ma so che siamo partiti incontrando un giornalista che conosciamo, lì per intervistare i più noti Gossip, che ci raccontava come i Battles siano “i principali esponenti del Math Rock”. Bene. Che cavolo sarebbe? Santa Wikipedia racconta che è un genere “caratterizzato da una complessa ed insolita struttura ritmica, melodie angolari, sonorità fuori dagli schemi del rock tradizionale, da corde dissonanti e da un grande sperimentazione tecnica. Come genere musicale, è associato al post-rock, dovuto infatti all'utilizzo di strutture ritmiche che si annoverano nel jazz”.
Roba da intellettuali, insomma, magari poco adatto al clima sudaticcio e salsiccioso della Festa dell’Unità, si potrebbe pensare. Invece non è stato così, perché questi sono una macchina da guerra che non perde un colpo. Il set è stato breve (meno di un’ora) ma davvero intenso, molto professionale come si conviene a gente che viene da gruppi-mito del noise, come Don Caballero e Helmet. Fantastico il batterista, capace di cambiare ritmo con la stessa facilità con cui io mi asciugo la fronte (forse di più) e i riff delle due chitarre, di una precisione chirurgica. Il poco cantato mi ha ricordato udite udite i Residents (addirittura!), anche se forse la definizione più azzeccata l’ha data l’amica che mi aiuta (quando si ricorda) a curare questo spazio: lei dice che sembrano i puffi virati noise. Ed è proprio così! Il pubblico, folto probabilmente anche per il solito caldo e i Gossip a seguire, era piuttosto entusiasta (nel modo in cui lo può essere a Roma, vale a dire che non erano proprio tutti immobili, ma ogni tanto scuotevano almeno la testa su e giù) e, soprattutto nel finale, quando hanno tirato fuori il cavallo di battaglia “Atlas”, alcuni hanno perfino ballato. Interessante e ipnotico, comunque, anche se ti immagini ad ascoltarli più in un club a dicembre che non mentre schiumi a luglio alla festa dell’unità. La cosa migliore comunque è stato vedere un tizio con una maglietta degli industrial svizzeri Young Gods con scritto dietro “I’m the Drug” che ballava e saltava come un esagitato, dimostrando che anche da queste parti c’è ancora chi si entusiasma per qualcosa. Per fortuna.
I Gossip… beh, Beth Ditto è un animale da palcoscenico mica da niente, e da questo punto di vista vale tanto oro quanto pesa. Qualcuno in platea la paragonava a Janis Joplin (ora non esageriamo, ragazzi) ed è davvero notevole, anche per come tiene il palco, si agita e salta per due ore.
La musica invece è davvero noiosa: se ne parla come di eredi delle riot grrl e garage rock revival, ma io sinceramente non ci ho sentito né le une né l’altro. Forse giusto un po’ di indie del più scontato. Un concerto per fan di Madonna, che forse sarebbe andato meglio al Gay Village che non in coda all’esibizione dei Battles.

]]> http://acoatofredpaintinhell.wordpress.com/?p=212 Fri, 11 Jul 2008 21:48:38 +0000 shanejr http://acoatofredpaintinhell.wordpress.com/?p=212 I liked interviewing Page. For all the sort of jockular dick swinging his band seems to inspire, the man can play some amazing guitar. He's also well spoken and articulate, a trait that doesn't normally extend to many of his contemporaries.  I OD'd on Helmet when they got back together. Slowly realizing that Meantime was sort of their best and that all subsequent (Betty excluded) had that same militaristic marching chug chug thing going on. Not to discredit his contributions to popular hardcore, I think he's a great writer and musician--fuck it, maybe I'm just old. That and I saw them like five times in a row at SXSW in 06 and a dozen times on Warped when they reformed and put out that record on Lyman's label. He is really nice and I did get drunk near him and James from Against Me! during an after party during Warped Tour one year. There is my famous person story.

The famous person stories are all the same by the way, it involves drinking heavily and turning around, shaking some dudes hand and thanking them for making music. I've been known to nod during conversations that I'm not involved in also. Yes. I'm announcing my uncoolness on my blog, not sure if that makes me uncool-er or maybe I've just never been. Nah, I'm definitely not cool.

Enjoy!

Like all decades, the '90s has its importance in the annals of rock history. Aside from the botched corporate-sponsored Woodstock (AKA 'mud fest'), death of Kurt Cobain and birth of the boy band phenomenon (to name some quick ones), the '90s had some shining musical moments-and most of them took place somewhere on the fringe of the mainstream. The post-hard-core movement began in New York City with bands like Quicksand, Orange 9mm, Into Another and, at the helm-at least the visible one-was Helmet.

Helmet released their Amphetamine Reptile debut Strap It On in 1991 and inspired a million bedroom guitarists with their Interscope follow-up, Meantime. Meantime was the band's first commercial success and garnered them plenty of critical praise and a wider fan base. The marriage of hard-driving guitars, drop tuned with vocalist/guitarist Page Hamilton's deadpan delivery and smart lyrics, made Helmet stand out from the rest of the dying hair bands and solidified the band's place in history as a trendsetter. So much so, in fact, that this past year Page decided it was time to reevaluate Helmet and bring it back for the next generation of heavy music lovers.

Helmet officially disbanded in 1998. After four full-length albums and thousands of miles covered in touring, it was time to move on. Page went on to become a session musician, working with film composer Elliot Goldenthal doing scores for films like Julie Taymore's screen adaptation of Shakespeare's Titus, Neil Jordan's The Good Thief and In Dreams (Annette Bening) and, most recently, S.W.A.T. Page also toured with David Bowie as a guitarist for Bowie's album, Hours. During this time, Page was playing with a band of friends under the name of Gandhi, but due to the stress of having a band made up of bicoastal members, Gandhi broke up in 2002.

Page met drummer John Tempesta in 2002, and started jamming with him and guitarist Chris Traynor (Orange 9MM) who toured with Helmet during the Aftertaste tour. The three of them demoed the track, "Throwing Punches," which eventually made it into the hands of Nine Inch Nails bassist Danny Lohner, music supervisor for the film Underworld. The track made it onto the soundtrack of the film, and the fire for Helmet was sparked again. Jimmy Iovine, chairman for Interscope, contacted Page earlier this year to ask him to produce music for his label and also asked him to return to Interscope with Helmet. Page started by producing Bush front man Gavin Rossdale's solo project and then made the comeback album of the year with Helmet called Size Matters.

Themusicedge.com recently caught up with Page after a wild night in Vegas playing a date on the SnoCore Tour with Chevelle, Future Leaders of America and Strata. His tour mates owe a debt of gratitude to Page and the sound Helmet helped grow and cultivate.

Page got his start playing music by actively listening to music and says of his early experience, "I went to a school where they didn't have much that would get you interested at 15 or 16. They've got you listening to classical, and all you want to play is Led Zeppelin. They have you singing, "Nothing could be finer than bein' in Carolina," and wearing a blue bowtie,. You're thinking, 'music sucks!' Then you hear Zeppelin and you think, ‘music rules!'"

Yet, regardless of taste, Page comes from a strong background where he got his chops going to Manhattan School of Music for jazz guitar. With the current state of things as they are, Page says, "Of all the things they could cut (from budgets), they cut something like music. They don't even realize the value of it, even if a kid doesn't want to be a professional musician, they don't realize that the value of studying an instrument stays with you the rest of your life. "

Page started obsessing about the guitar when he was about 15. He was introduced to the guitar wizardry of Jimmy Page and his stellar work with Led Zeppelin, and by 16, Page had almost every Zeppelin album except In Through the Out Door. By 17, Page had bought his first guitar, a $40 acoustic, and his goal, like many new guitarists of the time was to learn "Stairway to Heaven."

"I started fantasizing about being Jimmy Page. I would listen to two Zep records a day from beginning to end. I bought a $40 acoustic and started taking lessons from this guy. He was a good guy, but he said "Stairway to Heaven" would be too difficult for me to learn, so I left and found a teacher who would help me learn it. I believed I could learn to play anything if I wanted.

"I went to college as a pre-med major 'cause I was in advanced math and science in high school, and they basically said I'd be a doctor or lawyer, but soon realized that seeing the sight of someone injured and the sight of blood makes me pass out so I wouldn't be a very good doctor. I was still really into music, and in the spring semester I got a music teacher and started studying and playing a lot and decided to continue after one semester. I asked my teacher if he thought I could be a career musician and he said I could if I wanted it bad enough. So I started working really hard-12 hours a day. I did a year at the community college 'cause I wasn't quite good enough to get into the university yet. I took a ton of music classes and some philosophy and English lit and kind of got myself together. Then I auditioned for jazz guitar and classical guitar and got in.

"I got my degree and moved to Seattle and auditioned at the Cornish Institute, but they said, ‘You already have your degree but we'd love to have you here. We could give you another bachelor's degree.' But I decided to go to New York instead and give it a go and went to grad school, auditioned for jazz guitar and got my master's degree two years later. I was obsessed. I literally didn't go out, and for me it was a wise thing to move to New York without any money 'cause you can literally get swallowed up by the city. I lived in a welfare hotel and worked the graveyard shift from midnight to 8 in the morning. I had a little Fender amp and a Charlie Parker Omni book, and unless something was going wrong, I just had to buzz people in. I worked my way through grad school doing that.

"When I was done, I picked up a copy of the Village Voice and started looking for bands that were auditioning people and that's how I met the Band of Susan's. I got into that band and then got into Glen Franken's guitar orchestra and did that for about a year when I said, ‘Hey, I can write, I can sing,' and started working on Helmet stuff from there and put my band together."

As an album, Size Matters is a great way for Page to be reintroduced into the wild, so-to-speak, and the guitar work on the album is earthquake-inducing heavy, yet the mild, melodic delivery and un-obligatory throaty yells from Page keep the spirit of Helmet alive without repeating old techniques. His work in jazz (he's also taught himself to play trumpet), film and as a session musician have helped expand his musical vocabulary and in turn expanded his creativity when it comes to writing for Helmet. Page paints the picture of the consummate musician, continuously learning and honing his craft, and taking bits of the jazz and classical world and sprinkling them into the sound of Helmet.

When working with film, Page says, "I was just hired as a guitar player to play on the orchestral score by Elliot Goldenthal, who had heard about me through Warner Brothers. He needed some weird guitar stuff, and they called and said, ‘We're going to hire you to get some other guitar stuff and do this orchestra thing,' and I thought it was cool. They ended up hiring me and this guy Mark Stewart, who is this amazing guitar virtuoso from New York who played with Paul Simon and can do all the really slick reading and everything like that. I can read but it's not something you really do in rock. I'll read a big, slow passage and do it with my sound and build pads under the orchestra, and then work with the composer-mostly just color stuff. So I'll do anywhere from six to 20 guitars on a queue and let them do what they want with it. It's really fun.

"This last year with Elliot, I worked on this opera he's doing called Transposed Heads and worked on S.W.A.T., and those guys recommended me to this other group of guys who did the sound for the movie HEAT, and so I ended up helping them with Catwoman. And worked with Elliot on Collateral.

He adds, "I've been really lucky to be able to do a film a year."

One key aspect for Page as a growing and learning musician was the purchase of a recording device. He says, with regards to self-improvement, "One major key for me was getting a four-track and a drum machine. You spend time listening, putting structures together. It helps when coming up with ideas. You can have two guitars, three guitars-anything goes. You're in your room working and having that expands your knowledge. Hear different things and become a better musician. For me, working on movies helps me in my writing for my band, playing in my band helps my jazz playing. It has provided a springboard for me to help develop these sonic soundscapes, and I'm a good arranger because of the time I spent with the four-track writing and arranging, which helped me on the Gavin Rossdale solo project. I produced this band Toti Moshi from Oakland who we took on the road with Helmet. All these things are part of being a musician. It's not just a one-dimensional world, and I would encourage people to not just listen to rock exclusively."

Helmet hit the road for the SnoCore tour in mid-January and will be traveling with the tour until March 13, where the final stop in is in a very ‘un' snow-like place: Orlando, FL. Former Anthrax bassist Frank Bello stepped in on bass for Chris Traynor so Traynor could focus on guitar, and with former White Zombie/Testament drummer John Tempesta manning the skins, Helmet is once again a force to be feared. For tour dates and general info on Helmet, please visit www.helmetmusic.com.

All the protestors in this demonstration, many of whom were in wheelchairs, were wearing helmets, sunglasses, and masks, as if they were very afraid of the police. It was against the Joint Security Treaty with America, and there seemed to be a lot of confrontations with the dozens of police officers who were escorting the protesters.

The new machine is being imported, just for me, from Germany, where teams of specialist engineers and steelworkers have been working through the night to construct a bike big enough for me.  (Actually, it's not that much bigger than my current bike (a Specialized Hardrock, with a 23" frame), but just a couple of inches bigger in all directions, i.e. top tube, seat tube, and wheelbase, and I'm quietly confident that it will feel the "right" size for me, where the Specialized has always felt a tad small, complete with its stupidly long seat post, handlebar raiser, etc.)  Last I heard, it was held up in customs - maybe they wanted to put an extra bit of tax on it or something.

But, talking of cycling, I found this excellent site the other day, all about looking good on a bike on the streets of Copenhagen, and it's made me notice people on bikes around Bristol.  I have to report that, in all honesty, we really are not a very stylish crowd.  The reasons are, I think, varied but straightforward:

1. The starting point - obviously, the inhabitants of Bristol are not, generally, as attractive in the first place as the impossibly good looking Danes.
2. Judging by the pictures on the blog, Copenhagen weather is also rather more beautiful than our own.  Bristol at the moment is in the middle of its unofficial monsoon season - it happened last July, and the year before, so I think we can reckon to be stuck with it.  So one has to be prepared, with dangerously nerdy waterproofs, which even David Beckham would struggle to wear stylishly.  (Unless you're Jon, who turned up to work yesterday looking like a drowned rat, his excuse for not wearing waterproofs being that they were "under things".  Hmmm....)
3. Copenhagers seem not to feel the need to wear helmets, which inevitably gives them a head start (geddit?) in the style stakes.
4. Copenhagen seems incredibly well endowed with cycle lanes, with very few cars in evidence, so people look much more relaxed in their cycling than we do on the mean streets of Bristol.  (This may well also account for the lack of helmets, although you shouldn't be fooled, Danish fashionistas - your brain is far more likely to be damaged by your head hitting the pavement than by being hit by a car). 

We recently heard that Bristol is going to become Britain's "cycling city", so maybe we can expect infrastructure like they have in Copenhagen.  Wouldn't that be great?  And who knows, maybe the funding will also make us more beautiful, make the weather better, and get Jon's waterproofs out from "under things".   Meanwhile, maybe we should start to make an effort to put Bristol on the cycling style map.

Gavin Rossdale, Ex-front man da banda inglesa Bush, com a qual gravou 5 álbuns, anda trabalhando na turnê do disco solo intitulado "Wanderlust" mas nesse meio tempo, logo após o fim do Bush ele chamou o Page Hamilton o cara do Helmet para produzir o que seria o primeiro álbum pós Bush, a banda chama-se "Institute" , é legal, tem algo de característico do Bush e algo do próprio Helmet, interessante de ouvir, é igual mas é diferente...entendeu???

O trabalho literalmente solo que se auto intitula "Gavin Rossdale", é um som mais ligth, se comparado com outras músicas do "Bush" e do "Institute", eu particularmente gosto muito do primeiro álbum - sexteen stone - mas vale a pena ouvir o projeto novo, muito bem produzido por sinal.

E eu que eu pensava que o Rossdale estava aposentado e só vivia de love  com a Gwen Stefani...me enganei.

Aproveita e acesse: www.myspace.com/institute

Veja também: www.myspace.com/gavinrossdale

Bush no myspace:  www.myspace.com/bushrockmusic  

E o site oficial do cara: www.institutemusic.com

É isso, até mais.

I took my Mongolian Grill leftovers with me to work yesterday evening.  See, the bike helmet-holder-thingy's come in pretty useful, don't they?

Helmet was arguably the first "Alterna-core" band.  Bursting on the alternative scene in 1992 with 'Meantime' (their second official release), the strict, sharp and disciplined riffing of Page Hamilton and Peter Mengede's guitars struck a major (albeit brief) chord with the masses in a time of confusion when alternative was struggling to redefine itself.

Those who were riveted by the heavy riffing and heavy, grunting - almost hardcore - vocals that occasionally lapsed into shoe-gazing melody on 'Meantime' were no doubt thrown for a loop by the muddy, ragged and often confusing follow-up 'Betty.'  Indeed, when 'Betty' was released people pined for the overplayed (but still cool) 'Unsung' from the debut over new cuts like the lackluster 'Milquetoast' or even the cool 'Biscuits for Smut.'

'Aftertaste' takes the best elements of Helmet's heaviest moments and melds them with a more powerful updating of Hamilton's slacker drone.  The atonal grunts are gone for the most part and reveal a dark, emotional (and often introspective) depth to Hamilton's vocals.  Not so much in academic tonal quality, but in honesty.

Dave Sardy (mastermind of one of my Abysmal faves, Barkmarket) produces this one and, while some have been very critical of his production job, I love it.  The mix is brutally white hot and the sound just shreds your woofers from the first tortured, rhythmic chords of the opening track "Pure."  From there, it just relentlessly hits you with some of the most precise, hooky, minimlist riffs you'll ever hear.

It's sad that this disc wasn't the followup to 'Meantime,' as sonically it's a more logical step forward than 'Betty.'  Flip side of the coin is that 'Aftertaste' probably couldn't have existed without 'Betty' coming first, as the vocal elements that were so droning and powerless on 'Betty' have been refined into a nuclear weapon here.

"I'd rather be insulted by you than someone I respect" roars Hamilton on 'Birth Defect' and his brutally honest delivery makes me a believer.   Incidentally, 'Birth Defect' possesses one of the aforementioned minimalist riffs honed to perfection.  "Renovation," "Exactly What You Wanted" (YYYYyyyyeeeaaaahhhh!), "Diet Aftertaste," "(High) Visibility" and "Insatiable" are some other high points on a disc that grabs you simultaneously by the neck an the heart and refuses to let go.

An amazing achievement walking the tightrope of power and emotion without ever lapsing into self-parody, which the band eventually did on their "comeback" release 'Size Matters.'  Oh, well, this is really the only Helmet album you'll ever need as they'll probably never top it.  Every band deserves to have at least one disc where everything just comes together.  This one is Helmet's.  Would be a 5, but toward the end of the disc I find myself in need of a bit of a respite from their relentless bludgeon, as a sameness kinda creeps in.

Rating:  4 out of 5

Pabrikan Helm Schuberth mengandeng juara 7 kali F1 Untuk merancang Helm khusus Motor. helm Schuberth memiliki bobot yang ringan (hanya 0,5 kg) karena terbuat dari serat karbon yang terkenal kuat, juga dengan sisi aerodinamika yang baik (lihat gb tes di wind kanal bawah) Plus dengan inovasi teknis dan safety yang baik pula.

A.R.O.S = Anti-Roll-Off-System

sistem ini membuat tali pengikat tetap berada di tempatnya dan menghindari helm berputar (pivot move)

Pin Lock Visor

Pinlock Visor menggaransi helm anti pengembunan

Helm kedap suara

Helm ini sangat kedap, diklaim hanya 85 dB pada 100 Kpj, menambah konsentrasi rider

sumber gambar : http://www.schuberth.com

A 11-year old school girl on her way home from a cycling proficiency test lost her balance and fell into the path of a car.   The vehicle ran over her arm, shoulder and head but, amazingly, she escaped with just cuts and bruises.

As you can see from the image above, the helmet took the brunt of the force.

I can see no better reason for people, young or old, to wear a helmet. I mean, if that's what the car did to the helmet, then imagine what it would have done to her head if she didn't wear one. A horrific image, to say the least!!

I think it's time this government of ours did something good and pass a law that everyone riding a bicycle needs to wear a helmet. Just the same as if you are riding a motorbike, those riding bicycles should wear a helmet too.

So peeps, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on this. Drop a comment or send me an email.

The new pin is hidden under the Beach Umbrella at the Cove

This is the screen that should pop up when you walk over to the Beach Umbrella.

The new Clothing Catalog and Wig Catalog is out today, and there are A LOT of hidden items.

Click on the Belt Buckle to get the Red Viking Helmet

Click on the Belt Buckle and then the Red Viking Helmet four times to get the Blue Viking Helmet

Click on the Air Meter to get the Diver's Helmet

Click on the Upper Left Green Square on the first Tabard to get the Woodman's Helmet

Click on the Ribbon of the Emerald Hat to get the Crystal Staff

Click on the Right Boot to get the Cheesy Necktie

Click on the Spikester to get the Spikette

I made a visit to my local Kawi dealer, and scored a good deal on this HJC branded CL-15 Dragon helmet.  What really sealed the deal was both DOT and Snell ratings.  The old helmet only had DOT, which is the lesser of two standards.

The fit on this helmet is really comfortable.  I had to go with XL to keep from being squeezed to death though.  It has a fully removable crown liner, and cheeck pads.  This is good, because sweat can really lead to a lot of bacteria and smells in there.  I can throw the linings in the washing machine and air dry.  Perfect.  The shield is really, really clear.  I literally forgot that it was there after awhile.  It was like looking through glass.  I am going to be picking up a smoked one though, as I really don't like to wear sunglasses while my head is crammed in there.  My only complaint would be that there is a minor visual distortion caused by the shield which I noticed rather quickly when I got underway on my drive home.  It was slightly distracting.  Should get better when i am used to it.

as far as venting, it has three direct vents on the front.  Two are above your forehead, and one is near where your nose is.  It has 4 venturi vents (two front, two rear).  These use suction from passing outside air to pull moisture and heat out of the helmet.  They worked pretty well, considering the direct flow vents were closed (due to the fact I didn't know they were closed until I got home).  Sitting at red lights during the 100 degree afternoon were uncomfortable, but that was because the sun was shining in through the wonderfully clear shield and heating my face.  One I was moving, it was quickly reduced.

One feature which is increasingly popular on helmets (except my old one) is a chin strap retention system.  This basically consists of a snap attached to the end of the strap which allows it to snap in place, to the end doesn't flap around in the wind.  Simple  system, but is very effective.  I can't tell you how many times going down the highway with my Fulmer I was repeatedly beaten in the chin by the flapping strap.

The only negative I have found, there is still a rather large amount of wind noise at speeds over 50 mph.  A $2.00 set of ear plugs will remedy that though.

There is an accessory breath guard you can attach for when the weather cools down.  Unfortunately it is an option accessory and not included.  I will have to pick one up when the weather takes a dive.

In conclusion, I am pleased with this helmet.  It retails for $129.99, however I picked it up for 15% off thanks to the fact I bought my motorcycle there.  Good purchase, and would recommend to the budget consious.

TJD

When he was running for President, he faces an opponent with military experience and a great deal of foreign policy background- George H.W. Bush. Bush had been a Naval Aviator in WWII and had served in  a wide variety of positions including Director of Central Intelligence and of course, two terms as Vice President under Ronald Reagan. Dukakis was the Governor of Massachusetts, but had little defense or foreign policy background(Dukakis did serve in the Army from 1955-57). In order to bolster his defense "bona fides" he took part in a photo op riding in an Army M-1 Abrams Tank. The result was this infamous photo.

Dukakis was mercilessly mocked for the photo. The Bush campaign ran ads of the photo to make the point that Dukakis was not fit to be Commander-in-Chief. Many people credit this for shifting the tide in the election from favoring him to favoring Bush (I think Willie Horton might have had more to do with it).  It bacame the prime example of a PR stunt backfiring.

Here's why I think he got a raw deal. He looked goofy. Well, I'll let you in on a little secret. Everyone in a tank helmet looks goofy. I do. Oh, Lord, don't I know I look goofy. The thing is, the helmet wasn't designed as a fashion accessory, it was made to keep you from cracking your skull open when the tank bounces around.

We've seen several cases where politicians since then have been mocked for wearing helmet, to include John McCain, Joe Lieberman and Obama with the bike helmet (I'll admit, I love Slu's P-Shops of the bike helmet). George W. Bush has been mocked for being photographed in a flight suit on an aircraft carrier (if he hadn't taken the helmet off before photos, he would have been screwed).

I'm glad Dukakis lost the election, I just feel bad that he had to take that cheap shot.

I went on a ride with my dad yesterday. What a breath of fresh air. 

We have noticed nice improvement with his head though. The back of his head has rounding out quite a bit as well as his left side and his front right forehead. It's neat to see. His hair is crazy though, it's just like Grant's hair was, it's long in some areas and fine etc. I think I may take him to get it cut before the beach b/c I just don't know what to do with it!

Anyway, he's really funny and seems to really understand quite a bit of what we're saying. I taught him nose and now when I ask him where my nose is, he points right to it. I'm trying to teach him "eyes" now. It seems like he's a bit more with it at an earlier age than Grant was but maybe not. It's hard to remember even though it was just a few short (or long, depending on how you look at it) years ago.

I think his head looks good at this point, it has really filled out in the back and is started to fill more on the side. She said he needs more in the front right forehead etc. Whatever. I'm pretty over it and disappointed that we have 7 more weeks at least. We go to the Outer Banks in 6 1/2 weeks and I told Sheryl, the PT, that we won't be putting the helmet on him during the day at the beach. She said that it may hinder the progress but then she said at that point it may not really matter. She said something about putting a big hat on him while he plays in the sand but I don't think I'll want to deal with the heat and the sand. But, we'll cross that bridge when we have to.