Recent music discovery

When it comes to music I like to consider myself a "jack of all trades". If it sounds good I'll listen to it. The term "good" in this case is subjective because everybody has their own idea of what good music is. I listen heavily to rock music, e.g., metal, alternative, indie, classic rock but I dabble in a little rap but I'm very particular about what kind of rap. Example: my favorite being Aceyalone. If you haven't heard him look up his album Book of Human Language. It's very poetic and has allusions to Louis Carrol's Through the Looking Glass. Most recently my wife introduced me to an artist by the name of Alex Clare. His most popular song right now is "Too Close" which kinda has some dub step roots to it without the annoying bass drops and has some great vocals by Alex himself. It's interesting because it's like an anti love ballad compared to a lot of those sappy love songs that are hitting the radio waves these days. Another song of his that I'm currently listening to is "Rest my Beloved". He's very much a break from the norm and deserves a listen from anyone who's interested in that kind of music. I've also discovered a group called Noisia. I hate to use this term when defining the genre because it's just so broad but they would fall into a techno genre. My favorite song by them so far is called "Alpha Centari". The reason I like it so much is if you close your eyes and relax while you listen to it, your imagination can go wild and me personally it's just very calming. Anyway, check those out if you're interested and let me know what you if you listen to them

My thoughts on The Dark Knight Rises

So this past Monday I went with a friend of mine again to see TDKR. Now I'm a HUGE fan of director Christopher Nolan. His batman trilogy aside; memento, insomnia and inception are my favorite movies and I'd say are a must have for any movie buffs movie collection. The movie starts off in a plane ride with some CIA agents asking the whereabouts of Bane, a chemically modified gorilla that's built a brick shit house. Que bad guy entrance. Tom Hardy plays the role of Bane and, I might add, very convincingly. It's now eight years after the events and Gotham City is crime free thanks to the Dent Act that gives the law more muscle to tackle organized crime so, as a result, Bruce Wayne (Batman) has become a recluse in Wayne manor. Michael Caine reprises his role as Alfred, Wayne's faithful caretaker and ill add his role brings a big rmotional impact to the story, which I wont go to in depth on because its really something you have to experience for yourself. Long story short, the arrival of Bane brings Batman out of hiding, all the while battling numerous emotional and physical battles to take out Bane. Joseph Gordon-Levitt also joins the cast as a very bright detective who plays a big role in bringing Batman back to life. Gordon-Levitt has really become one of my favorite actors. The role he played in inception really brought to my attention that he's grown a lot since the days of "3rd rock from the sun" and he didn't disappoint me this time around either. Overall, all performances in the film were spectacular and the action sequences were very well done. The only (minor) problem I had was sometimes the pace of the story lulled in a few spots. The final installment of the batman trilogy wasn't by any means as spectacular but it was still good. I say the dark knight still has to be my favorite out of the three just because Heath Ledger as the joker is largely what made that film so great. I was excited about this film because Bane was going to be the villain. I really wanted to see how they were going to pull it off and I think Tom Hardy did a good job as Bane. Overall, great movie and it's definitely worth seeing especially if you're anywhere near an IMAX theater

Olympics thus far

So I thought the opening ceremony was interesting. It wasn't as grandiose and awe inspiring as Beijing but it was interesting. First, why the hell was Kenneth Branagh dressed as Abraham Lincoln smoking a cigar? That didn't make much sense to me but ok...I'll accept that he was supposed to represent some sort of business man but really? And then there's the part thats supposed to represent the movement from the agrarian age to the industrial age. I'll admit it seemed like there was a lot of time and effort put into it and considering the actors weren't getting paid, they took it seriously but that should go without saying. But I'll say this much, when they were doing the transformation, it reminded me of the scene in the first lord of the rings where the shire was being transformed into mordor. Maybe that's what Kenneth branaugh should have been. That freaky looking Orc they pulled out of the ground. And then there was the part with all those kids. I think it was called "children's nightmare" or something along those lines...anyway the only thing I have to say about that is that what it's like growing up in London?! Jesus Christ if it was like that for me I would never sleep with the lights on! And then there's the big voldemort balloon. That part was awesome just because in a huge fan of the Harry potter books. I don't know if it's good or bad if that's the only thing that's excited me up to this point but I digress. Then comes a whole brigade of Mary poppins. Ok? I missed the part in the deathly hollows when voldemort is killed by Mary poppins after she destroyed the last horcrux. The two parts that I actually enjoyed the most were where James bond and the queen parachute of the helicopter when the ceremony started. I'll admit I'm a bit of a sucker for James bond movies. I won't say Jason Bourne eat youre heart out but Daniel Craig has brought a little more badass into the role. I'm pretty excited about Skyfall The other part that I actually laughed out loud was Rowan Atkinson reprising his role of Bean. I'm just amazed that man made a career out of not talking. I guess body language speaks louder than words. And Paul McCartney closing the opening ceremony was just awesome. It was cool seeing all the athletes getting pumped up when he played "Hey Jude". And of course the torch lighting was the epitome of the entire ceremony. I don't know what it is but there's an "edge of your seat" feeling when they carried in the torch. That's my take on the Olympics so far. I hope Loche takes home the gold. Ok I'm done

My current undertaking

So its been a little bit since I've picked up a book. The last one I finished was Game of Thrones about 3 months ago and boy do I miss the thrill of a good book! Anyone that is even remotely interested in the fantasy genre I HIGHLY recommend getting the series. Not just the first book, buy the whole damn box set. The best way I can think of to describe it is if the sopranos invaded middle earth with a good story and characters that you'll love and love to hate. But seeing as how the hobbit is being released this year I picked up The Hobbit from Barnes and noble last week so I'm more than excited to dive right into that one! :)

Been a while

So haven't posted in a while. I started a new job and January and actually got fired two weeks ago due to budget cuts so I guess I haven't been all that motivated to post anything. Seeing as how I'm currently unemployed I'm going to utilize my time to post a little more about the things that I enjoy doing