Untruthful

A word on belief
Tuesday, April 17, 2007

We had a discussion about chastity today in religion class. Our religion teacher, 40-some years old, is all for chastity of course. Whats the downside? Lets look at the pros:

- God doesn't want you to have sex before marriage
- Sex before marriage can result in early/unplanned/teenage pregnancy
- Sex can result in contraction of STD's. Chastity prevents spread of disease
- You can focus less on sex, and "actually get to know the other person"
- You won't get denied at the gates for too much porking

Those were pretty much all the arguments he gave for chastity. Needless to say, I was upset. I completely disagree with all that shit. Cept for maybe the STD part. I'd like to point out, by the way, that my religion teacher is a virgin. So he isn't really an authority on sex. At all. Who is he to say that you can't search for god in a suck or a fuck? I certainly have. Hell, I might have seen him a few times, mid-thrust, or maybe right at the end. On second thought, I know I have. Come to think of it, I think a good way to describe the climax of a sexual experience to be something like getting a high-five from god himself. Wouldn't that be great? Somehow, you and god are such good buds, you are on a first name basis, and when he hears you had a good time with some nice guy or gal, he's so happy for you, he fucking puts his hand up, and you slam your palm into his. Glorious.

Well anyway, back to what I was talking about before. Christianity is really starting to bug the fuck out of me. Telling people not to do this, that, and the other thing. "Don't do it!" they say, "Don't even try it! You'll burn!" at least thats what they make it seem like. Its hypocritical really, think about it, why have such strict laws, if one can always repent? Furthermore, why the fuck does sex seem to get more attention than violence and murder? (I think I might be on the verge of rambling, so I'll try to keep it linear...) Anyway, let me explain my view before I continue.

Life is all about experience, what you experience is always to your benefit, in one way or another. And all that you don't experience, all that you avoid, is a loss on your part. Now, of course, you need to take into account things done to you as well. Its obvious that if you were forced into a situation completely against your will, that there may be less to gain, in fact, you may even lose a part of yourself (I'll get back to "losing" yourself later). But like I said, life is about experience. If you can experience, chances are you can, or at least you can try to understand. Understand everything, why did it happen, why did it feel the way it felt, why, why, why. Its important to be optimistic, because while I can maintain this belief system and stay very happy, at times, it can also be very depressing. So keep it on the up.

A bit more about me, if you don't mind. I try to get closer to god, by finding absolute truths. If I can't refute it, I can't say its not holy. Theres a little bit of god in everything when you look at it that way. Western religion loves to have the one almighty deity, and most associate polytheism with cavemen, human sacrifice, and the devil. But look at it like this. If theres a little bit of god in everything, then theres obviously a lot of god, whatever it is. And if its in a lot of different things, how is it hard to think that different manifestations might have different characteristics? I'm bored with this topic, and feel like I'm trying a little to hard to find some deep meaning in something I don't really give much of a shit about, so, moving on.

Everything I do, gets me closer to god (thank you NIN :P). Its just a matter of thinking about it. Think about what you do, but try not to spend so much time thinking about what you don't do (more specifically, what you won't do, what you refuse to do).

Posted byJoe at 5:31 PM 0 comments  

The Year Zero Booklet at a glance

Posted byJoe at 4:02 PM 0 comments  

Labels: booklet, codes, decode, experience, hidden, inch, letter, lyrics, nails, nine, number, online, page, website, world, year, zero

Man, I wish my parents could have gotten this for me...
Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Rockabye Baby - Lullaby Renditions of Nine Inch Nails

Two words: fucking sweet. I'm definitely picking this up and putting it away for when I have kids. Essentially what they did, is take nails songs, and make them sound all nice and lullaby-ish. You know, vibraphone, mellotron, and other soothing instruments. The song selection is a bit odd though. The one that sticks out to me is "Closer" (you know, the song that goes something like "I wanna fuck you like an animal, I wanna feel you from the inside").

But regardless of the song selection, this CD is sweet as hell. Apparently the guy who does it has done other big bands too, like Pink Floyd for example. Oh and you gotta hear this description, it's the reason I wrote this:

"Nine Inch Nails changed the way an entire generation of kids heard the music around them. Trent Reznor uses unique sounds to create electronic music that is otherworldly. His songs are a warm place that are closer to being fragile than broken. If your child bites the hand that feeds, play this album. It is made with all the love in the world."

(If you're a fan, you'll catch the handful of song references crammed into that blurb)

Posted byJoe at 9:48 PM 0 comments  

Labels: album, alex, baby, cover, inch, lullaby, music, nails, nine, rendition, rockabye

Purevolume

I've started using it once again. Since I've gone and dug up my old hobby, music, I've decided I might as well start posting a bit of the noise I'm making.

You can check it out here

What will you find? Who knows?
New songs, lyrics, my trial and error process of deciding what I like and what I don't like, general info on how my "career" as musician is going. I'm actually gonna start using it a bit. So if you like the way I sound, check it out now 'n then. Or even better, you could register on purevolume as a listener and become a fan/friend of me, just like on myspace! but with music! how exciting! Do it any you're my hero. Honestly every time I look at that site I cringe a little when I read "no messages, 0 friends, 0 fans, no one likes you, why are you trying, get your shit out of here"

Honestly, thats what I have to read every time I login.

Posted byJoe at 4:24 PM 0 comments  

Labels: artist, band, fan, listener, lyrics, music, new, purevolume, song, updates, writing

Playing detective! Uncover the corperate scum's secret plot!
Tuesday, April 10, 2007

I just stumbled upon this little article by a Julia Havey (apparently, more than just a name, this is no normal Julia, this is "Julia Havey, Author"). It opened my eyes, it really did. I didn't know before this, that APPARENTLY, soda pop can do damage to my teeth (along with every other sugary product, not to mention cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, and METH). But this article isn't about meth or any of that small time shit. THIS IS ABOUT COKE. They're building an empire on tooth decay and "unfair" advertising. Thats right, the advertising is unfair. They use words like "choose, buy, live" among others, to coerce you into buying their product.

Little did I know, I didn't even like Coke. That is, until Julia opened my eyes.
Nor did I know that "August" was sometimes spelled "Augst." (must be something AUTHORS do, thats why you and I don't understand. Julia is an author).

Now heres what set me off, why I'm tearing this bitch down.
"Oh, the deceit, (I mean persuasive advertising), just continues in full force"

Oh fuck! Persuasive advertising?! That could... oh god... that could almost... FUCK... that kind of advertising might actually make consumers more likely to buy a product! Quick someone tell Jesus! He'll ride down from heaven, high-five all the soccer mom's that write this kind of make-pretend "I can talk about something political articles" shit, turn the big nasty corporations into pillars of salt, turn their SUVs into ponies, then do a quick walk in on The Oprah Winfrey Show and talk about how it really was necessary, after all, we need to look after the children's best interests.

I know, that last paragraph was a bit incoherent, but you get the idea. It pisses me the fuck off. How could a grown person be so goddamn naive? Oh wait, I forgot, she's a woman. Silly me.

But seriously, read this pile of shit article she wrote
She really should be a detective! We're all so blind!

Posted byJoe at 4:06 PM 0 comments  

Labels: article, coca, coke, cola, corporation, hate, me, off, piss, shit

Finally, an absorbing hobby
Monday, April 09, 2007

So I've decided on a very time consuming hobby. Digital music production. I know I've talked about it before, but I'm prettttty sure I'm sticking with it now, so I thought I'd explain it. I'm aort of happy about it, but I'm also starting to dread getting sucked into this as a pastime.

Anyway, digital music is no simple thing. You need to make use of tons of software, and invest in boatloads of hardware to make it work, and even after that, you need to muster the creative energy to crank out a few tunes. I think I have plenty of the creative juices to squeeze out, unfortunately I've never been one to enjoy spending vast amounts of money, nor do I enjoy reading manuals and learning very very task-specific technical knowledge. I am, however, quite handy with electronics, so I'm not too worried.

I've been browsing the world of production software off and on for about 4 months now, and just tonight I finally found exactly what I'm looking for. I found out what programs and hardware, specifically, that Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails' frontman and creative force) used to produce both With Teeth, and my new favorite album ever, Year Zero: Native Instruments. Native Instruments is one of the leaders in digital production. I used their website to find the basic info on what I need to do what I want, and where to get it, and how to use it, etc. Anyway, after gathering all that info, I found that all of these programs are extremely complex, and I was going to need an in-depth tutorial, rather than an overview to figure them all out. So it was off to my good friend the Wiki. Gotta love piles of information.

So essentially, I'm in the learning stages of digitally producing my own unique sound. In the meantime, I'm also teaching myself piano, and making sure not to slouch in my guitar and singing skills.

Whats my goal? I want to express my opinions and emotions in a large, evergrowing body of musical compositions. I've already got a growing stack of lyrics, and once I get down this computer shit, I'll have a medium. Then what? Then I'm gonna share it with everyone! And maybe if lots of people like it, I'll get a couple fans. Can never have too many of those. I'll keep posting my progress on piano, vocals, guitar, and this computer stuff so you'll all know when to expect some music. And hey, if you wanna help, let me know, I'm sure theres something you could do.

Posted byJoe at 10:58 PM 0 comments  

Labels: digital, guitar, hobby, instruments, learn, music, native, piano, production, sing, vocals, wikipedia

Isohunt, DRM, and All That RIAA Shit.
Monday, April 02, 2007

For those of you who still spend money on media, this may be a bit of a surprise, but tons of people are saving a buck by illegally downloading content. Movies, music, games, applications, books, you name it. If you can put it on a computer you can get it.

But this short blurb doesn't really have much to do with what you can get. Its who you're getting it from. Everybody remembers Morpheus, Napster, and Limewire. All those programs are bullshit compared to the numerous bittorrent clients available now. Essentially the way it works, is the more people that are downloading, or hosting the file, the faster you download. So if what you want is popular (like... for example... 300 in HD quality), you're in luck, and you might be able to download it in under 2-3 hours. I've downloaded albums in under 2 minutes.

What do I use? A client called Bitlord and a search site called isoHunt. I recommend both for the aspiring media pirate.

But why write this article? Because pirates are winning. The RIAA was all suing the shit out of everyone, and the concept of DRM (Digital Rights Media) was being slapped on everything. But suddenly, everything did a complete 180. iTunes is dropping DRM, and Zune (Microsoft) is soon to follow suit. Furthermore, headlines about the MPAA selling record numbers of DVDs, and the reviews of the rising popularity is demolishing the argument that media piracy steals money out of artists pockets.

Apparently, people don't just like the content or the idea. This all suggests... oh god... that people like THINGS they can touch and hold?! Who would have thought..?

Posted byJoe at 6:12 PM 2 comments  

New Piano! And Some Other Shit.

Haven't posted in awhile. So I thought I'd freshen things up and do a bit of 'splainin. I've been writing a lot less lately because I've been busy as hell. Literally, mountains of work. I had to save my calculus grade for the quarter last week (from a 32% all the way up to a 62% in a couple days). Aside from that, I've been moving around a bunch too. We had senior retreat in Wisconsin somewhere, then immediately after that I had to goto the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire to tour and to take my placement testing.

The campus was bomb as hell. Definitely looking forward to headin' out there next August.

Aside from all that, I've really been just sitting around. I've posted a lot less on this particular blog mainly because now I have two! I got a new cellphone that happens to have a spiffy little camera on it. So I started a mobile picture blog. You can check it out at mobileblogged.blogspot.com

Oh yeah. I also just got me a brand spankin' new, 88 key Casio Pravia keyboard. Got the weighted keys and everything. Been playing the shit out of that, as well as working on some new vocal and guitar skills with the help of my dad and his double kick drum (mostly screaming :P). So, needless to say, the past couple weeks have been quite musical. Lots of lyric-writing too. Suffice to say, that I have hardly been a slouch.

Anyway, I'll get back to writing on this shit a bit more often now that things have cooled down.

Posted byJoe at 1:31 PM 0 comments