Just to put something in perspective here. People believe in romance because, as human beings, we are wired to hate being alone. Better survivability that way, you see. If you have a heart attack in your home and you live by yourself, game's over. You're dead. Chances of surviving go up when you're with someone else. But the fact of the matter is that who that person is doesn't matter. You may think it's about compatibility, but it isn't. Look at it this way. Suppose it was. Naturally you want to choose the most compatible person to marry, because why settle if you're more compatible with someone else? And that's the trap. Because consider everyone you know or have ever met and conversed with to a slight degree. Consider everyone you have on facebook. For this example, I'll use a fairly popular female friend of mine who has 600 friends. Assume, for the sake of simplicity, that you have a 50/50 split in terms of gender. That's 300 people in a perspective pool of people you know.
The kicker? Compared to the world population of almost 7 billion, that's not even a drop in the bucket. For the sake of simplicity divide that number in half for gender difference. 300/3500000000 = 8.57142857×10^(-8), or .00000008571% chance that the person most compatible with you is someone you know. You're looking for 1/3500000000. Your chances of winning the Texas Lottary are 1/175711536. You're twice as likely to win the Texas Lottary as you are to pick the human being alive, right now, who is most compatible. Oh, and if you're bisexual than you're four times as likely to win the Texas Lottary.
There are, of course, other complicating factors. Does that person share your sexual preference, for example. But those don't really matter. Point is, from that small pool of people you know the odds of finding your most compatible match is basically non-existent. And if you do, there's no guarantee things will stay that way. People evolve and adapt. Who you were once most compatible with might not be your match years down the road when you've become someone else.
And that's the simple math behind the illusion. Who you're with doesn't matter. It's just a fear of being alone and a desire for emotional gratification. Seems like a pretty good excuse for promiscuity now, doesn't it?
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Sunday, December 19, 2010
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Lack of Posting
I don't post often because, well, I'm busy doing things. But today I'm in a good mood and suddenly remembered I had this silly little blog, so I decided to actually sorta update.
1. Played a test game of Malifaux today. Had a blast doing so. I was using the Hag starter set against proxied Ortegas. Considering those blasted gunslingers are designed to kill Neverborn I think I did alright. Still lost, but I at least hurt them pretty badly. It's pretty fun and plays quick once you know what you're doing.
2. So, I have come to the realization that Cheapo discs is awesome. Found myself a Sisters of Mercy bootleg with a song I love on it. Sadly I can't import the damn cd into my itunes so it's not on my iPod, but just the same it's a great listen.
3. I hate Xmas. I'm a self-proclaimed Scrooge and proud of it. The music is boring, trite, and overplayed. The "spiritual" overtones are nauseating since it's a stolen Pagan holiday anyways. In all honesty Xmas is more of a political holiday than a religious one. Plus the consumerism is sickening. My family's all mad at me because I haven't really shown interest in any presents. I don't want/need presents! I'm content with what I have! Why is this such a source of frustration?! Grrr, now I'm stressed because I don't want anything and they keep bugging me for stuff. Plus they want stuff and I don't know what to get them. I just want this stupid holiday to be done with.
3 (a). As a sub-note I actually had to sign a bunch of Xmas cards today. Xmas cards, and cards in general, are dumb. It's a waste of paper and card stock. They're prepackaged BS that somehow shows you care about someone? Puh-lease. The only message I get when I receive them is "Wow this person cared enough to spend about a dollar for a piece of professionally folded paper."
3 (b). Though as another subpoint, for Xmas I did buy two movies to appease my parents. Got Ingmar Burgman's "the Seventh Seal" and "Scooby Doo on Zombie Island" at the same time. The guy working the checkout counter at B&N looked rather confused. It amused me.
4. You know how hard it is to find a copy of Mage: the Ascension? Here's the thing, I used to see copies of them all the time at Half Price Books. I've gone to all but 2 in the surrounding area and have yet to find a copy. I don't understand. It doesn't make sense! It shouldn't be that hard to find...
5. This is probably my new favorite song in the whole wide world.
6. Watched some old horror movies, including "The Black Dragon" starring Bela Lugosi. He plays a plastic surgeon who transforms 6 members of the Japanese Black Dragon society into lookalikes for six of America's leading businessmen so they can replace them and destroy U.S. economic infrastructure (the movie takes place in, and was made during, the early 1940's). It wasn't too bad, better than most of the bullshit that you'll see on screen today. The acting was a little lower class than I would have preferred, but still not as dismal as, say, Keaneau Reeves or Megan Fox. Still haven't seen Metropolis yet, though I want to. That's going to be fun.
That's all for today folks. As always, Love Under Will.
93/93
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1. Played a test game of Malifaux today. Had a blast doing so. I was using the Hag starter set against proxied Ortegas. Considering those blasted gunslingers are designed to kill Neverborn I think I did alright. Still lost, but I at least hurt them pretty badly. It's pretty fun and plays quick once you know what you're doing.
2. So, I have come to the realization that Cheapo discs is awesome. Found myself a Sisters of Mercy bootleg with a song I love on it. Sadly I can't import the damn cd into my itunes so it's not on my iPod, but just the same it's a great listen.
3. I hate Xmas. I'm a self-proclaimed Scrooge and proud of it. The music is boring, trite, and overplayed. The "spiritual" overtones are nauseating since it's a stolen Pagan holiday anyways. In all honesty Xmas is more of a political holiday than a religious one. Plus the consumerism is sickening. My family's all mad at me because I haven't really shown interest in any presents. I don't want/need presents! I'm content with what I have! Why is this such a source of frustration?! Grrr, now I'm stressed because I don't want anything and they keep bugging me for stuff. Plus they want stuff and I don't know what to get them. I just want this stupid holiday to be done with.
3 (a). As a sub-note I actually had to sign a bunch of Xmas cards today. Xmas cards, and cards in general, are dumb. It's a waste of paper and card stock. They're prepackaged BS that somehow shows you care about someone? Puh-lease. The only message I get when I receive them is "Wow this person cared enough to spend about a dollar for a piece of professionally folded paper."
3 (b). Though as another subpoint, for Xmas I did buy two movies to appease my parents. Got Ingmar Burgman's "the Seventh Seal" and "Scooby Doo on Zombie Island" at the same time. The guy working the checkout counter at B&N looked rather confused. It amused me.
4. You know how hard it is to find a copy of Mage: the Ascension? Here's the thing, I used to see copies of them all the time at Half Price Books. I've gone to all but 2 in the surrounding area and have yet to find a copy. I don't understand. It doesn't make sense! It shouldn't be that hard to find...
5. This is probably my new favorite song in the whole wide world.
6. Watched some old horror movies, including "The Black Dragon" starring Bela Lugosi. He plays a plastic surgeon who transforms 6 members of the Japanese Black Dragon society into lookalikes for six of America's leading businessmen so they can replace them and destroy U.S. economic infrastructure (the movie takes place in, and was made during, the early 1940's). It wasn't too bad, better than most of the bullshit that you'll see on screen today. The acting was a little lower class than I would have preferred, but still not as dismal as, say, Keaneau Reeves or Megan Fox. Still haven't seen Metropolis yet, though I want to. That's going to be fun.
That's all for today folks. As always, Love Under Will.
93/93
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Saturday, December 11, 2010
Saturday, December 4, 2010
In Sickness and in Health
Rather than complain about being sick all day (I'm looking at you Kal) I've decided to be someone productive today. Then I realized I was sick and in no mood to do involved research about occultism and such, so instead I figured I'd talk a little about goth rock.
Goth rock is probably my favorite genre of music, much as I love horror punk and black metal. It's a wonderfully sweet melancholy that isn't overplayed like modern day emo music. And by overplayed, I don't mean "hear it too much on the radio." My problem with music like Linkin Park and Evanescence is that these bands make this music that tries so very hard to sound epic and depressive at the same time, and their subject matter is usually actually just personal relationships and romance songs, things of that nature. These bands (Linkin Park, Evanescence, etc) are writing these songs that have super "epic" soundscapes trying to make their mental break downs about losing their girlfriends/boyfriends/whatever sound like super hard core world shattering events. Which is kind of sad, but I won't get into it. Point is, goth avoids those pitfalls by making them melancholic without dipping into self-pity. It turns the personal angst into an artwork. Rather than screaming at the audience to understand it, goth rock frames those feelings and puts them on display. It captures that essence musically rather than forcibly trying to fit it into a cataclysmic sound scape that more narcissistic "artists" prefer to do. Wait! Bad Damien! You promised not to rant about trite emo bands!
Anywho, figured I'd post some of my favorite goth rock bands. If you know of any, please hit me up with recommendations.
1. Sisters of Mercy
2. Christian Death
3. Fields of the Nephilim
4. The Mission UK
5. Bauhaus
6. Ghost Dance
7. Rosetta Stone
8. Garden of Delight
9. London After Midnight
10. Corpus Delecti
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Goth rock is probably my favorite genre of music, much as I love horror punk and black metal. It's a wonderfully sweet melancholy that isn't overplayed like modern day emo music. And by overplayed, I don't mean "hear it too much on the radio." My problem with music like Linkin Park and Evanescence is that these bands make this music that tries so very hard to sound epic and depressive at the same time, and their subject matter is usually actually just personal relationships and romance songs, things of that nature. These bands (Linkin Park, Evanescence, etc) are writing these songs that have super "epic" soundscapes trying to make their mental break downs about losing their girlfriends/boyfriends/whatever sound like super hard core world shattering events. Which is kind of sad, but I won't get into it. Point is, goth avoids those pitfalls by making them melancholic without dipping into self-pity. It turns the personal angst into an artwork. Rather than screaming at the audience to understand it, goth rock frames those feelings and puts them on display. It captures that essence musically rather than forcibly trying to fit it into a cataclysmic sound scape that more narcissistic "artists" prefer to do. Wait! Bad Damien! You promised not to rant about trite emo bands!
Anywho, figured I'd post some of my favorite goth rock bands. If you know of any, please hit me up with recommendations.
1. Sisters of Mercy
2. Christian Death
3. Fields of the Nephilim
4. The Mission UK
5. Bauhaus
6. Ghost Dance
7. Rosetta Stone
8. Garden of Delight
9. London After Midnight
10. Corpus Delecti
Previous/Next
Sunday, November 28, 2010
A Quick Plug
Saturday, November 27, 2010
A Painful Divorce
I'm sorry Black Metal, but I'm leaving you. I can't continue living like this. We've had a good run, and in the end we both tried our best. I know that deep down inside, we still both love each other, or at least I love you very, very much. But sometimes love just isn't enough, and we have to part ways.
Last Tuesday I went to see Goatwhore and Watain in concert. Lemme tell ya, it was something wicked. Course, I'd seen Watain live once before so I knew what was coming. But none the less it was still an incredibly powerful performance. There was much blood, filth, and mayhem all across the stage. Goatwhore was pretty good too, which was was pleasantly surprising. I've heard their albums before and didn't think all that highly of them, but they sound a Hell of a lot better live than they do on recordings. They got a pretty good mosh pit going, and myself and a friend of mine jumped on in despite being half to a quarter of everyone's size in there. Those guys were huge! I was pretty surprised by my friend Kal jumping in too. He was really only along because he'd come down to visit me and his other friends from Austin, and there was no way in Hell I was going to miss out on seeing Watain again. So he sorta came along for the ride, but in the end he seemed to really enjoy himself. Which is pretty nuts, really. The dude is gonna be a teaching aid for a bunch of elementary school kids in a few months, and he's been doused in blood by the fiendish Erik Danielsson!
Man do I love being a degenerate.
Well anyways, that whole "Watain are fucking excellent" rant kinda clashes with my opening bit a little if you noticed. I love Black Metal. My favorite band of all time is a Black Metal band. But I can't deal with Black Metal culture anymore. See, the genre isn't really a genre of music so much as its own little world. It has its own values and ideals, and for the longest time I really identified with that. But as of late the scene has been getting worse, and its values have changed in light of a lot of stupid shit that's been happening. People are now starting to loathe any band with moderate success and accuse them of being "mainstream." I've seen people accuse Funeral Mist of being mainstream. Really? Fucking Funeral Mist? Holy shit dude, I wish music like Funeral Mist was mainstream. People would be so much more interesting.
Now, in all fairness I sort of understand where this is coming from. I've met my fair share of morons who think that bands like Cradle of Filth are Black Metal. Not to mention there's Dimmu Borgir, who pretty much wrote the book on selling the fuck out. But popularity alone has nothing to do with it. A band, an act, a musician can be popular without "selling out." The problem with Dimmu Borgir isn't financial success, it's that they fundamentally changed their music to achieve that financial success. I mean, you can't deny the fact that half the tracks from Death Cult Armageddon were clearly inspired by Danny Elfman and meant to appeal to the Hot Topic crowd. Listen to this shit.
Now, don't get me wrong. Danny Elfman does some great shit. But seriously, don't act like you're somehow a part of the "Black Metal scene" when you're busy sucking off the guy who does the music for half of everything that's done in pop culture. It was a cold, calculated business decision and nothing more, and thus the antithesis of everything that Black Metal stands for. You really shouldn't pretend to be a part of something when you very obviously aren't.
All that being said, the Black Metal community has, as far as I'm concerned, gone way too far in the opposite direction. If you're reaching the point where you're afraid the financial success of a band is ruining their integrity, but the band pretty much sounds the same as they always did or at least has a logical sound progression that isn't motivated by making cash, then you're letting the attitudes and behaviors of the so-called "Mainstream" influence you as much as it does Ke$ha. And that's just as bad.
So I guess I can't in good conscience call myself a Black Metaller anymore. And I guess I'm fine with that. Bought the new Sargeist album and am very pleased with the results. Still heavily into the Orthodox Black Metal music and all that jazz. But I'm into lots of music, so it's no love lost really.
What I am totally into now, though, is horror punk. Mostly the hard core stuff, mind you. Punk tends to be very hit-or-miss for me. That being said, I'm having a blast with Order of the Fly. Just bought their new album, "Hollow Voices of a Dead Generation," and it's unbelievably good.
I also recommend, among horror punk bands...
Crimson Ghosts: Hunted
The Other: Howl at the Moon
The Hitchcocks: Renegade
Scarecrow: Zombies
Left For Dead: Tonight You Die
Schoolyard Heroes: Attack of the Puppet People
I guess I can also post some great Deathrock.
Theatre of Ice: Tomorrow Never Comes
45 Grave: Evil
Corpus Delecti: Patient
Not quite Deathrock, but a favorite of mine.
Nosferatu: Wiccaman
Salvation: Girlsoul
The Screaming Marionettes: Screaming Monster
The Wake: Nazerene
Anywho, I've got a ton more but I think I'm good for now. Hot damn I don't know what I'd do with myself without all this great music out there in the world.
As always, Love Under Will
93/93
Previous/Next
Last Tuesday I went to see Goatwhore and Watain in concert. Lemme tell ya, it was something wicked. Course, I'd seen Watain live once before so I knew what was coming. But none the less it was still an incredibly powerful performance. There was much blood, filth, and mayhem all across the stage. Goatwhore was pretty good too, which was was pleasantly surprising. I've heard their albums before and didn't think all that highly of them, but they sound a Hell of a lot better live than they do on recordings. They got a pretty good mosh pit going, and myself and a friend of mine jumped on in despite being half to a quarter of everyone's size in there. Those guys were huge! I was pretty surprised by my friend Kal jumping in too. He was really only along because he'd come down to visit me and his other friends from Austin, and there was no way in Hell I was going to miss out on seeing Watain again. So he sorta came along for the ride, but in the end he seemed to really enjoy himself. Which is pretty nuts, really. The dude is gonna be a teaching aid for a bunch of elementary school kids in a few months, and he's been doused in blood by the fiendish Erik Danielsson!
Man do I love being a degenerate.
Well anyways, that whole "Watain are fucking excellent" rant kinda clashes with my opening bit a little if you noticed. I love Black Metal. My favorite band of all time is a Black Metal band. But I can't deal with Black Metal culture anymore. See, the genre isn't really a genre of music so much as its own little world. It has its own values and ideals, and for the longest time I really identified with that. But as of late the scene has been getting worse, and its values have changed in light of a lot of stupid shit that's been happening. People are now starting to loathe any band with moderate success and accuse them of being "mainstream." I've seen people accuse Funeral Mist of being mainstream. Really? Fucking Funeral Mist? Holy shit dude, I wish music like Funeral Mist was mainstream. People would be so much more interesting.
Now, in all fairness I sort of understand where this is coming from. I've met my fair share of morons who think that bands like Cradle of Filth are Black Metal. Not to mention there's Dimmu Borgir, who pretty much wrote the book on selling the fuck out. But popularity alone has nothing to do with it. A band, an act, a musician can be popular without "selling out." The problem with Dimmu Borgir isn't financial success, it's that they fundamentally changed their music to achieve that financial success. I mean, you can't deny the fact that half the tracks from Death Cult Armageddon were clearly inspired by Danny Elfman and meant to appeal to the Hot Topic crowd. Listen to this shit.
Now, don't get me wrong. Danny Elfman does some great shit. But seriously, don't act like you're somehow a part of the "Black Metal scene" when you're busy sucking off the guy who does the music for half of everything that's done in pop culture. It was a cold, calculated business decision and nothing more, and thus the antithesis of everything that Black Metal stands for. You really shouldn't pretend to be a part of something when you very obviously aren't.
All that being said, the Black Metal community has, as far as I'm concerned, gone way too far in the opposite direction. If you're reaching the point where you're afraid the financial success of a band is ruining their integrity, but the band pretty much sounds the same as they always did or at least has a logical sound progression that isn't motivated by making cash, then you're letting the attitudes and behaviors of the so-called "Mainstream" influence you as much as it does Ke$ha. And that's just as bad.
So I guess I can't in good conscience call myself a Black Metaller anymore. And I guess I'm fine with that. Bought the new Sargeist album and am very pleased with the results. Still heavily into the Orthodox Black Metal music and all that jazz. But I'm into lots of music, so it's no love lost really.
What I am totally into now, though, is horror punk. Mostly the hard core stuff, mind you. Punk tends to be very hit-or-miss for me. That being said, I'm having a blast with Order of the Fly. Just bought their new album, "Hollow Voices of a Dead Generation," and it's unbelievably good.
I also recommend, among horror punk bands...
Crimson Ghosts: Hunted
The Other: Howl at the Moon
The Hitchcocks: Renegade
Scarecrow: Zombies
Left For Dead: Tonight You Die
Schoolyard Heroes: Attack of the Puppet People
I guess I can also post some great Deathrock.
Theatre of Ice: Tomorrow Never Comes
45 Grave: Evil
Corpus Delecti: Patient
Not quite Deathrock, but a favorite of mine.
Nosferatu: Wiccaman
Salvation: Girlsoul
The Screaming Marionettes: Screaming Monster
The Wake: Nazerene
Anywho, I've got a ton more but I think I'm good for now. Hot damn I don't know what I'd do with myself without all this great music out there in the world.
As always, Love Under Will
93/93
Previous/Next
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Excitement Building
I have no idea what to do while I wait for the Watain show tonight. So I decided to write stuff here. Also been killing time listening to Ministry. I'm by no stretch of the imagination a great fan of theirs, but every now and then I pop in a listen. Right now I'm rocking out to Scarecrow from Psalm 69. Good stuff.
Got an hour and a half of work study today at the office. Shouldn't be too bad. After that I'm hitting up a couple of stores in downtown Austin and then prepping for the show. Got my boots and shirt ready and everything. Dunno what else to do with myself right now while I wait for my shift. Classes all got canceled today (awesome!) so I chilled out and played a little Red Dead Redemption. Undead Nightmare is a blast. Then tried to hit up an ATM machine, but the girl in front of me busted it. It's also the only bloody ATM machine in the entire campus, which is incredibly upsetting. Don't wanna go off campus just to pull money from my account. But oh well. Life is life, after all.
Anywho, I'll shut up now and start heading off to workstudy. Maybe the ATM machine will have been fixed by now.
As always, Love Under Will.
93/93
Previous/Next
Got an hour and a half of work study today at the office. Shouldn't be too bad. After that I'm hitting up a couple of stores in downtown Austin and then prepping for the show. Got my boots and shirt ready and everything. Dunno what else to do with myself right now while I wait for my shift. Classes all got canceled today (awesome!) so I chilled out and played a little Red Dead Redemption. Undead Nightmare is a blast. Then tried to hit up an ATM machine, but the girl in front of me busted it. It's also the only bloody ATM machine in the entire campus, which is incredibly upsetting. Don't wanna go off campus just to pull money from my account. But oh well. Life is life, after all.
Anywho, I'll shut up now and start heading off to workstudy. Maybe the ATM machine will have been fixed by now.
As always, Love Under Will.
93/93
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