Thursday, April 24, 2008

When Life Gives You Lemons...


...You paint that shit gold!

I know, I said I'd see you next week, but I couldn't help it.

This week has been full of good music so far.


On Tuesday, Atmosphere's new album, "When Life Gives You Lemons You Paint That Shit Gold," came out, and I went to the Honda Civic Tour last night, which was a blast.

First, the Atmosphere album: it's amazing. It's definitely different compared to any of Slug and Ant's old stuff. This album has some, I guess you could say, "mode
rn" hip-hop, as far as the beats go. There are some downright bass-heavy, slow-paced beats that'll make you wonder if Ant had an epiphany while listening to T.I. But, of course, there are several tracks that feature Ant's catchy trademarked drum and piano beats. The track "Yesterday," one of the songs with a "traditional" beat, had the most memorable tune, in fact it's probably the most memorable song on the album. The song just drips with an inescapable feeling of reminiscence, as Slug raps about a friendship that went wrong and how he regrets it. It has a pretty interesting twist at the end: a twist that actually got me a bit teary-eyed. Like the last album, "You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having," all of the songs on this album have some serious themes and undertones. The album is really moody, but it's not in a bad way. Slug goes into different topics like cigarette addiction, suicide, and emotionally abusive relationships. He's still a master storyteller: you'd swear that he actually lived the life of the woman trying to cope with her life and her crappy boyfriend on the track "Dreamer." His lyrics are still incredible. There's some very deep, deep poetic shizzle on this album.


"All of us cut from the same damn cloth / Some of us never cut the price tags off..." -- Slug, "Like the Rest of Us"

Panic at the Fillmore!

The Honda Civic Tour came to Miami last night. Phantom Planet, The Hush Sound, Motion City Soundtrack, and Panic at the Disco all came out to perform at the Jackie Gleason Theater down in South Beach. My girlfriend, Peter, Shany, and I all went together, and I think it's safe to say we all had a good time.

We walked into the theater around 7 p.m., and, much to my surprise, it was already packed as Phantom Planet was about half-way into their set. I had never heard t
hem before, and I was pleasantly surprised by them; they played some good ro ck n' roll type stuff. My girlfriend and I sat in the first floor's mezzanine, while Peter and Shany sat on the second floor. The seats weren't that great, but it thankfully didn't ruin the experience.

The Hush Sound came out after Phantom Planet and did their thing. Their stuff was pretty cool too. It kind of made you want to dance, but it was nothing out of this world in my opinion. There's just something about female lead singers in rock bands that just doesn't turn me on. I can hear your sexist remarks already...

Motion City Soundtrack, one of the greatest bands ever assembled in the history of the universe, came on next. It was the second time I saw Motion live, and although I enjoyed it more the first time I saw them, their performance was still energetic and entertaining. I got to meet the band after their performance. Justin Pierre gave me a hug, which Shany totally missed on camera, and the band signed my album and t-shirt.

Finally, Panic at the Disco came on, and I then began to seri
ously reconsider ever having children.

See, if I have children, then there is a fifty-fifty chance that that child may turn out to be a female.

If, in fact, my child is a female, then she was God-willing someday become an adolescent.

I now officially despise female adolescents.

Two of them sat directly behind me, and they both started yelling like maniacs, at the top of their lungs, as if someone was chopping away at their toes with garden scissors, at the s ight of Brendon Urie. My ears are still ringing. I turned around once and gave them my super-intimidating menace look, but sadly, it was to no avail. Any time Brendon spoke, or Ryan Ross spoke, or even just for the hell of it, they yelled like castrated Tarzans.

Brendon Urie says: STFU JOO LITTLE BITCHES!
Sigh.

Besides that... Panic was great.

They played a bunch of the songs from their first album, except they were played without the funky electronic sounds. They simply turned them into straightforward rock songs. Brendon performed an acoustic version of my all-time favorite Panic song, "Time to Dance," and Ryan got to show off his solo vocals on "Behind the Sea."

After the show, ears still ringing, we walked over to Lincoln Road, had some pizza and ice cream, spotted Justin Pierre eating with his family (he put a face like 'Aw, shit, they found me), and went on home to stop the bleeding in our ears.

And that's the post for today, ladies and gents. Sorry if I haven't been getting back to the IM's. I can't hear them.

Toodles!

Comment my blog! E-mail me! Tell me your story about yelling adolescent females! What do you think of Atmosphere's new album? Have you shaved a kitten this week? Let me know!




Monday, April 21, 2008

"Remember your first..."

Hello, friends, and welcome to my blog! Thank you for taking time out of your busy, fulfilling lives to read this thing -- I hope someone actually is.

Those of you who know me well should have no trouble reading my blog because you're accustomed to my personality. Those of you who have no idea who butt3r is, well, you should. I kid!

But seriously, for those of you who don't know me, I figured I'd waste some space with some quick facts about myself, so that you, the beautiful, intelligent reader that will comment, e-mail me, and check my page often, may begin to get to know me.

  • I'm an avid gamer and basketball enthusiast. Go HEAT! (I know they sucked this season. Shut up.)
  • I write for the Florida Int'l University student newspaper, The Beacon (fiusm.com), which has been a pretty great experience. I write for the arts and entertainment section of the newspaper, and I've gotten to meet and interview some interesting people and some of my favorite bands. They also published my first game review (for Super Smash Bros. Brawl). Yay!
  • The real reason people started calling me butter is because I couldn't catch a damn football in the tenth grade.
  • I have a wonderful girlfriend. Check out her blog: kjc00.blogspot.com
  • I'll be going to Italy this summer on a study abroad program with my university. My girlfriend will be accompanying me. I'm very much looking forward to it.
  • I aspire to someday write for EGM, IGN, OPM, OXM, GI, or any other gaming publication/website. Wish me luck.
Well, now that we're acquainted, let's move on to what is really important, like...

METAL GEAR SOLID 4: GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS

The Metal Gear Solid series and I share a very touching history.

Back in 1998, I had a Sony PlayStation. For the most part, my PlayStation was used as an unconventional decoration. It sat on my dresser, next to my TV, and I occasionally used it to play NBA Live '98 with my father. I was never really into gaming. I was a go outside/ride my bike/play basketball kind of kid.

That Christmas, my grandfather asked me to tell him any video game that I would like. He said that the game had to be sold at Target (so that he could use his new Target credit card), and that it would be my Christmas gift.

I surveyed a few of my friends that were into gaming and they unanimously voted Metal Gear Solid as the game I should ask for. At first I was a bit skeptical. I had seen one of my buddies play it once, and all I could remember was that there was a lot of talking.

I decided to actually trust my friends, and I told my grandpa' to get me Metal Gear.

Christmas came, and lo' and behold, Metal Gear Solid was stuffed into my stocking. I began to play it, expecting the worst...

Holy bat testicles, I was an idiot.

Metal Gear Solid captured me. It made me play for hours on end with my mouth agape, drooling all over my Alonzo Mourning jersey. It made me scream and shut off my PlayStation in fear when I looked through the small glass window, into the hallway full of the soldiers that Gray Fox slaughtered. It surprised me. It made me think. It educated me. It made me go through puberty.

Up until that point in my life, I never thought a video game could be so captivating. I thought the furthest a gaming experience went was the satisfaction you'd get from pulling off a Fatality in Mortal Kombat. Holy bat testicles, does not even begin to explain the way MGS blindsided me.

When the game was over, I played it again, and again. I played it one more time, for good measure, after that, and ever since, I've bought every video game console I could, read magazines, and stalked game websites in search of the next captivating experience. I've found many that come close, and many that don't came anywhere near, but are still entertaining.

Now, ten years later, Solid Snake is an lil' old man, and he might make his last appearance in MGS4.

I don't have a PlayStation3 yet, but you can bet your grandparents' suppositories that I'll have one come June 13.

Is anyone a little pissed off though?

The original MGS let us play as Solid Snake the whole way, which was bad ass, because he is a bad ass.

In Metal Gear Solid 2, we get to play as him for like, what? Thirty seconds? And then we have to play as that whiny, annoying retard Raiden.

Metal Gear Solid 3 puts us in the shoes of Big Boss, which, don't get me wrong, is great.

But...

MGS4 is the only 'real' sequel to Snake's story. Yes, I know that there are bits and pieces here and there in MGS2, and we learn a few secrets in MGS3, but MGS4 will be the only game in which we (hopefully) get to play completely as Snake. And now he's old! We won't ever get a true sequel in which we could play as Sexy Snake.

That's right, he's sexy.

Oh, and the Metal Gear Ac!d titles don't count.

See you next week, folks!

Leave me a comment! Tell me your Metal Gear memories. Write me an e-mail. Request me on your local radio station! Add me on myspace! myspace.com/tehbutt3r