01. Impaler
02. The Beast Arises
03. Children Of The Revolution
04. S&M
05. Takin’ No Prisoners
06. Marshall Lockjaw
07. Protector
08. Dream Keeper
09. Awakening
10. Remember Tomorrow

http://lix.in/-640770

Participa en la encuesta que nos ofrece MARCA.com y decide quien es el “killer” en el area. Los premios son mas que suculentos, por registrarse/loguearse y votar puedes ganar una de las 2 consolas (Xbox 360 Elite o PS3 Slim) o una de las 10 Black Editions (5 para Xbox y 5 para PS3)

Pincha aqui para participar

There are so many reasons why “the terrorists, enemy combatants, maggots, killers,” should not be given a civil trial reserved only for legal citizens of America. President Obama knows  that in so doing , he will not only turn America who is the  victim, into  being the defendant in this trial, but he will give these maggots an open forum to promote their propaganda of hate and all things anti-American. What this childish, naive,  dumb and dangerous travesty will accomplish, is to once again show the world that President Obama is more interested in show than in substance.

The message the world at large is getting is that America lost the cowboy in the White House, and replaced him with a Spineless octopus.  Soldier of Allah Major Hasan who recently went on a killing spree at Fort Hood murdering 13 American soldiers and; at the memorial for these dead American Soldiers, Obama addressed the fact that their deaths was an act of war, by the symbolism displayed in their boots and guns. We already see that this Jihadist murder’s defense is going for the insanity plea. I just hope that his insanity plea will help put him out of his misery with early eternal retirement.

Aside from the ridiculous high expense of affording these civil trials, it is amazing that the US Government is willing to have such a trial, knowing full well it will not be able to put on a strong prosecution, as National Security issues, will prevent proper evidence from being presented to the Jurors.  Speaking of juries, the rights of any one standing trial in the USA is being judged by a “Jury of Your Peers.”  So does Obama intend on importing twelve people from Pakistan? Or Saudi Arabia? How about some Al Qaeda wannabes’ running around most Mosques in the USA?  Germany will not submit documents because the information would help the USA ’s case for the death penalty. This trial should not be about America. The only way this Country can be avenged is to know that these terrorist will be given a proper military trial, and when found guilty, these maggots should be shot and their corpses  left to rot in hell.

Humans are just animals that have evolved . What has never changed is the call of the wild. Weakness in the animal kingdom is an opportunity for a good meal. Weakness in a nation inspires boldness among its enemies.  Americans are seen as the new carrion among our Muslim foes.

Andrea

Anybody can have a great idea. Most of the time we kill our own ideas with self doubt, bad motives or just bad planning. To prevent Good Ideas being killed off:

• Keep a notepad handy at all times. Do no think that you’ll remember them later, it is like trying to remember a dream.
• Think about what makes your idea unique. It may not be a unique idea but you may have a unique angle to it.
• Timing is Everything. Blurting it out to the general audience is probably worse than doubting the idea’s merit. Best to think about it and plan how to make it live beyond your own thoughts.
• Trust Yourself. Consider the idea on it’s merit not yours least you kill it with your self doubt.

Some funny idea killing sketches :

È uno di quei successi annunciati, New Moon, uno di quei film da record di incassi prima ancora che siano usciti. È così ogni volta che intorno a un’opera si crea un alone che lo rende qualcosa di più di un semplice film. Così è il caso di soffermarsi sulle ragioni di un successo annunciato.

La prima è quella che in termini commerciali si definirebbe “fidelizzazione”. Tra la saga di Twilight e il suo pubblico si è creato un legame solido e inscindibile che nasce già dai libri. Come Harry Potter,  quella di Twilight è una saga, una serie di libri, che racconta una storia che non si esaurisce, ma prosegue attraverso i vari volumi. I lettori così si sposteranno da un libro all’altro, in modo che ogni libro verrà letto probabilmente più di quello precedente. Come per la saga del maghetto, i libri di Stephanie Meyer creano un mondo, che i lettori vogliono continuare a vivere andando al cinema, per vedere come prenderà forma sullo schermo quello che fino a quel momento era vissuto nella propria immaginazione. Così probabilmente i lettori del libro saranno i più appassionati spettatori del film. E a loro se ne aggiungeranno altri. Rispetto ai titoli della saga di Harry Potter, quella di Twilight potrebbe essere svantaggiata dal fatto che i libri non hanno un nome come comune denominatore (i titoli non iniziano ad esempio con Harry Potter e…), ma dei titoli diversi. Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn (e ne arriverà prima o poi un quinto). Così al cinema i titoli sono stati raccolti sotto il nome The Twilight Saga.

Ma perché una saga abbia successo devono esserci dei contenuti. In questo senso la chiave vincente è stata travestire da horror quello che in fondo è un perfetto romanzo sentimentale. Non a caso in New Moon assistiamo a una serie di battute sul cinema, con Bella che dice di detestare i film romantici, e vorrebbe andare a vedere film d’azione, quasi che il regista volesse prendersi un po’ in giro. Perché New Moon, come Twilight, di horror ha ben poco. Non punta certo a spaventare: pensiamo che uno degli stilemi più spaventosi e spettacolari dei film di licantropi, le transizioni da uomo a uomo-lupo, qui avvengono all’istante, e il “mostro” altri non è che un lupo più grande. Invece il modello della storia di New Moon è uno degli archetipi delle sofferenza amorose, quel Giulietta e Romeo scritto qualche secolo fa da uno dei migliori “sceneggiatori” di tutti i tempi, Sir William Shakespeare, e citato in una delle prime scene del film. Anche qui ci sono due amanti divisi, non dal fatto di appartenere a due famiglie rivali, ma a due “razze” diverse, umani e vampiri (in questo il racconto potrebbe diventare una metafora della difficoltà delle coppie miste di oggi, ma non sembra mai andare in quella direzione). E il finale, in cui Edward, come Romeo, cerca la morte perché crede che la sua Bella, come Giulietta, sia morta, richiama proprio la trama di Shakespeare.

Ispirazioni celebri a parte, la saga di Twilight piace perché spinge all’identificazione. È narrata da un punto di vista prettamente femminile, quello di Bella, e riesce a cogliere molti degli aspetti tipici dell’adolescenza: il non sentirsi capiti, il non avere amici, la tentazione e il rischio di prendere una cattiva strada e di perdersi, il sentirsi diversi da chi ci sta intorno, unici, e il bisogno di ribadire, anche con rabbia, la propria unicità e la propria personalità. Bella, in New Moon, è diversa da tutti. Tra i vampiri della famiglia Cullen è l’unica umana, accettata ma mai fino in fondo, in costante pericolo. Ma è diversa anche tra i suoi simili, avendo varcato ormai una soglia dalla quale non può tornare indietro. E poi in New Moon, dopo l’innamoramento di Twilight, c’è la scoperta del sesso, del corpo, e di quel confine sottile tra amicizia a amore, come si vede nell’avvicinamento di Bella a Jacob. Per questo i film della saga Twilight sono dei film rivolti soprattutto a un pubblico giovane e femminile (e sono piuttosto odiati da quello maschile, vedi la guerra dei sessi scoppiata in rete). Lo dimostra la grande attenzione per pettorali e bicipiti che c’è in New Moon. In questo senso la cornice horror data alla storia (perché di cornice, e niente di più, si tratta) serve ad astrarre sentimenti e situazioni dell’adolescenza dalla realtà, a isolarli e renderli così più evidenti, assoluti. Le storie di Stephanie Meyer riescono, in parte, in quello in cui non riesce Moccia.

Cosa resta dunque dell’horror nella saga di Twilight? Non molto, diciamo una serie di suggestioni che servono a creare un’atmosfera intorno a una storia d’amore e di crescita. Stephanie Meyer prende una serie di figure archetipiche del cinema horror, il vampiro e il licantropo, e le svuota, interessandosi ai sentimenti e ai rapporti tra i personaggi, più che alle peculiarità dei tipi in questione. Succede il contrario di quello che capita spesso al cinema horror, dove le figure mostruose sono il cuore del film, e sono di volta in volta inserite in cornici storiche, sociali o culturali diverse, per tornare comunque prepotentemente al centro. Qui i personaggi sono il centro della storia, e sono essenzialmente caratteri con problemi e reazioni umane: il loro essere mostri è solo un contesto, un contorno, un colore. Ma al centro ci sono sempre le caratteristiche umane del personaggio. Così i vampiri non hanno il problema di non potere vedere la luce, o di uccidere gli umani a tutti i costi. E i licantropi non si trasformano con la luna piena, ma in seguito a emozioni rabbiose. Entrambi non diventano tali perché “non morti”, o morsi da altre creature, ma fanno parte di famiglie in cui tutti sono così. Quanto ai vampiri, assistiamo a una “normalizzazione” estrema della figura del vampiro. I Cullen sono persone normalissime, lontanissime dalla figura agghiacciante del Nosferatu di Murnau o di Herzog, ma anche dal Dracula di Bram Stoker di Coppola, e dai vampiri affascinanti ed eleganti anni Ottanta di Myriam si sveglia a mezzanotte, o dei dandy d’altri tempi di Intervista col vampiro, tratta dai libri di Anne Rice, e portata sullo schermo da Neil Jordan. Per andare incontro al suo pubblico, la saga di Twilight si avvicina a certi prodotti televisivi ai cui codici espressivi è abituato, cioè a serie che hanno sdoganato l’horror come prodotto per tutti, cioè Buffy, Angel e il recente True Blood.

La saga di Twilight è un perfetto esempio di film a target. Il che è interessante anche dal punto di vista commerciale, visto che permette di investire su un pubblico ben preciso. Ne è un esempio l’accattivante colonna sonora assemblando pezzi di gruppi rock, tra l’indie, l’emo e il dark, perfetti per accattivarsi il pubblico giovanile e costruire un’atmosfera oscura attorno al film. Ma, si sa, il rock è universale, e il risultato in questo caso è apprezzabile anche dai non giovanissimi. Tra canzoni dei Death Cab For Cutie, Killers e i nipotini dei Joy Division, The Editors, le cose più interessanti vengono da Thom Yorke, che, senza i suoi Radiohead, canta la sua Hearing Damage su un tappeto elettronico e cupo, che fa risaltare la sua inconfondibile voce, e dai Muse, con I Belong To You, che ripropongono il loro tipico sound con un tocco leggermente retro, vicino alle atmosfere di Feeling Good, la loro cover del pezzo reso famoso da Nina Simone.  

Prendete tutte queste premesse e metteteci quella enorme arma in più che ha il cinema: quella di creare icone e fissarle nell’immaginario in maniera indelebile. Certo, è presto, e probabilmente ingeneroso di parlare di icona, viste le vere icone che ha creato il cinema, per Edward Cullen. Ma rispetto all’aura di culto creata tra le adolescenti dai libri della Meyer, il grande schermo ha aggiunto il volto e il corpo di Robert Pattinson, diventato un vero idolo delle ragazze di tutto il mondo. La saga di Twilight lo mette in scena con un’aria alla James Dean, dimostrando di non volersi togliere nulla in fatto di esempi di ribellione giovanile. Il suo aspetto fisico, unito all’aura romantica del suo personaggio, ha fatto centro nel cuore di molte ragazze. L’attore londinese ha scatenato una mania che, restando nel mondo del cinema, non si vedeva dai tempi del primo Leonardo Di Caprio. In rete e nei negozi si trova qualunque cosa con il volto o il nome di Robert Pattinson, o del suo personaggio, Edward Cullen: magliette, tazzine, ombrelli, cappelli, borse, tende per la doccia e persino le mutande vanno a ruba. Robsessed (cioè obsessed by Rob, ossessionate da Rob) è il titolo di un documentario sull’attore (il dvd si trova in vendita su Amazon). La mania è totale. E come se non bastasse, Pattinson è anche un cantante rock, e tra qualche anno vorrebbe incidere un disco. Chissà come prenderanno le sue ammiratrici la notizia della sua love story. Chi poteva conquistare il cuore del bel Pattinson? Ma ovviamente la sua Bella, l’attrice Kristen Stewart. Dal set l’amore si sarebbe trasferito nella realtà, Edward e Bella si sarebbero impadroniti di Pattinson e la Stewart, facendo innamorare i due. Negli ultimi due mesi i due sono stati spesso fotografati insieme, e i giornali inglesi e americani stanno cavalcando la notizia. Che, diversamente dal solito, non sembra la solita trovata pubblicitaria. Speriamo che il loro amore sia meno tormentato di quello dei due personaggi. E che magari questo riesca a portare nei prossimi film un po’ più di chimica, di passione, di pathos. Cioè un tocco in più di realtà.

(Pubblicato su Movie Sushi)

Lloyd Cole – Live!

A filthy night in Brighton is not for the fainthearted, but Lloyd Cole is a talent worth braving the elements for. For those not in the know, Cole’s star burned brightly in the eighties when he was lauded by the music press as one of the most distinctive and literate songwriters around. A string of hit singles and albums followed until seemingly at the height of his success, he disbanded the Commotions and decamped for New York. Predictably the press turned on him and although he continued to record exceptional albums, he was denied the recognition he deserved. Stung by the experience, Cole has spent a decade crafting immaculate songs, releasing the results on a series of self financed albums and touring solo.

To the show then. Two sets, about 35 songs including covers of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Tower of Song’, Kris Kristofferson’s ‘Please Don’t Tell Me How This Story Ends’ and surprisingly, The Killer’s ‘Human’. Cole’s dry, self deprecating wit lifts the audience and the voice being intact, his reworked arrangements of his own extensive catalogue, including a dusting of new material combine to produce a truly remarkable gig. Cole’s is an enviable talent, as a songwriter he leaves other more feted musicians in his dust, as a lyricist he is quite simply untouchable. That he has decided to reject the trappings of the industry allows his music to speak for itself. That it does, eloquently, is no mean achievement in a business where for most performers such a decision would result in at best, a ghastly silence. About time for a critical reappraisal in my opinion…

By this single statement Hugo Chavez has alienated himself from right thinking people ,who have been his admirers for his gutsy stand against US, and proved himself he is a paper revolutionary and a real time terrorist whose posturing has been born not of conviction but of insecurity and a lust for power with no interest for the people.
Story:
CARACAS, Venezuela – President Hugo Chávez has defended the alleged terrorist mastermind “Carlos the Jackal,” saying the Venezuelan imprisoned in France was an important “revolutionary fighter” who supported the cause of the Palestinians.

Carlos – whose real name is Ilich Sanchez Ramirez – gained international notoriety during the 1970s and ’80s as the alleged mastermind of a series of bombings, killings and hostage dramas. He is serving a life sentence in France for the 1975 murders of two French secret agents and an alleged informant.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/world/stories/DN-intbriefs_22int.ART.State.Edition1.4b7a7b1.html

“Lenard!” Jill called down to the basement one night. “Lenard! Are you down here?”

“Yeah, I’m over here.”

“What are you doing sitting in the dark? What’s going on Lenard? How are we suppose to pay anything now. I’m not getting enough hours to keep us afloat. Babe you gotta get to the doctor. Something is wrong Lenard.”

“I know…I can feel it crawling around inside me.” Jill began to cry.

“What?”

“And I have scratches all over my body, like this.” He pulled up his t-shirt and showed her his stomach, and chest. They’d not made love in weeks, and he wouldn’t let her near the bathroom when he showered, so she hadn’t seen his bare flesh, and had no idea what was really going on with him. She closed her eyes, afraid of what she would see. As she slowly opened them she witnessed scratches that looked like they were coming from the inside out.

“Oh Jesus fucking Christ Lenard!” she cried out. “What is it?”

“I don’t know…” Lenard began to cry himself as he saw her reaction, and it confirmed his own fear.

“That’s it, I’m taking little Lenny to Ma, and I’ll be back for you. We’re going back to the hospital, and we’re not leaving without answers. And so they did.

The doctors, and nurses seemed as puzzled and appalled as Lenard and Jill was, after their examinations were complete. They put him through a battery of tests and came up with nothing. The doctor told Lenard he was sorry once more and that he would have to go and see a specialist.. Lenard grabbed the front of the doctors scrubs, and pulled him close to him.

“Now you listen to me, I don’t wanna hear sorry from you ever again. You tell me what the fuck is wrong with me and you tell me now, or I’m gonna rip off your God Damned head and shit down your throat, you useless piece of shit.”

“Lenard!” Jillian cried out as she pulled him back. “Let go Lenard…Let go!” he did as she requested realizing it was her who was doing the asking. “I’m so sorry, he’s not usually like this. It’s this illness.

“I’m not angry Jillian, I know it is. I want to help you Lenard…”

“But you’ve done all you can right.” he said in disgust, recalling the doctors previous words the night his son was born. The doctor blinked his eyes as if he could weep, himself, but his professionalism was surely getting in the way. He looked down.

“We’re just so glad your all okay, we’ll help you in any way we can to find your answers. That’s why I’m sending you to this specialist, maybe he’ll find something we could not.” He reached out to hand Lenard the piece of paper that he usually wrote out prescriptions on, instead he had written the name and number of the physician he was referring Lenard to.

“I don’t want your God damn doctors!” Lenard smacked his hand away. Jillian took the paper with a kind smile and a look in her eyes that said I’m so sorry.

“Baby please…” Jillian wept, and begged Lenard to to try harder as the doctor walked away.

“I’m not sick Jill, I’m possessed.” he told her. She scrunched her brow, and quickly looked left and right trying to make sense of his words. She’s remembered hearing such things growing up and the church even had one boy years ago who was said to have been possessed. Maybe they should go to the pastor, she thought.

“Okay, baby lets go.” she told him. She put him in the car and drove to the church. As they rounded the corner block of the church Lenard began to scream and cry out in horrible pain. He twitched and shook profusely.

“Aaahhhh! No!….. No!…..Just go Jillian…..I can’t be here!”

“But we have to, Lenard please!” He looked up at her and his blue eyes became filled with swirls of blackness, including the parts that were normally white.

“Get me out of here!” he growled. The look on her face was one of horror and she began to cry as she frantically tried to start the car.

“Oh God help us!” she pleaded. Lenard growled more as she spoke these words. Finally the car turned over and they were off. As soon as they were a few blocks away Lenard seemed to pass out from exhaustion. She drove him home and helped him inside. He was quite week and the smell coming from him was terrible to bare. She nearly threw up twice on the way in. Lenard stumbled down the stairs, and into the basement he went. Back into the darkness, back into the world from which she could not reach him. She sat down at the little round table in the kitchen and smoked cigarette after cigarette. She called her mother and told her that the doctors weren’t sure what Lenard had, and she wanted to know if she could keep the baby for a few days until she knew it was safe. She agreed that she would and Jillian went back to smoking, and thinking. How would she help him? She did not know. Her heart ached for him, she loved him so much and could not imagine her life without him. She had to think of some thing. And then it dawned on her, if she couldn’t take Lenard to the church, she would have to have the Pastor come to them, to their home. She picked up the phone and dialed the number.

“Pastor Finney, it’s Jillian Blake. I need your help…”

To Be Continued….

Back in June I began the ever subjective task of trying to come up with a Top 100 albums list for the past decade. As one might imagine, not an easy thing to do when you’re an audiophile. I will still come across albums when I walk the dog or am driving in the car and shake my head and say, ‘How could I have missed that album on my T100?’ truth is – space is limited and there’s only so much room in the head and heart (that could be said about a lot of things, I suppose.) In any case, there are certainly glaring omissions, as with any list. You will not see U2, The White Stripes, The Strokes or The Killers on this listing…nor will you see any rap or hip-hop. Nothing against decade-defining albums for critics to laud over, but truth be told, they’re not spinning in my head 10 years later. It’s my list and you’re welcome to take stabs at it – in fact, I welcome the criticisms and comments. That’s what makes the aural debate so fun. With that, ‘Cry Havoc, and Let Slip The Dogs of War…’ I will reserve space in early 2010 for the near-misses and my commentary on other lists that might pop up across the ’scene.’

Jamar Pinkney is in custody today for the execution style murder of his son, Jamar Pinkney Jr.   Witnesses report that Jamar Sr. “beat on him….snatched his clothes off and then shot him.”  The 15 year old was naked as he was pulled out of his house, taken to an empty field, and while begging for his life, was shot in the head by his own father.  The father then, “politely just walked in his car like nothing happened.”  The incident was set into motion when it was revealed that the 15 year old had inappropriate sexual contact with his 3 year old half-sister.

I knew I’d want to write about this the instant I heard of the story.  As I sat and tried to express my disgust, it dawned on me that the passion just wasn’t there. In an attempt to inspire my pen, I proceeded to Google “man kills son” and out popped several stories that I was only mildly curious enough to browse.  Some of the stories included a man killing his son to avoid child support, a man killing his son for rebuffing his sexual advances, a man killing his son over a property deal, and a man killing his son over a missing video game.  Suddenly, the story of Jamar Pinkney didn’t seem very special or unique.

What I now find disturbing is my own indifference to these accounts.  The fact that I’ve been desensitized by the many stories of everyday violence and abuse is bothersome.  A story of a father executing his sexually depraved son in the middle of a Detroit neighborhood seems typical and is met with a mild curiosity and a shrug of my shoulders.  Not only am I not outraged by such a story, I’m almost satisfied in that my opinions about the state of humanity have been further confirmed.

Granted, stories like these might not be common but they certainly are not rarities.  In fact, contemptible tales of murder and violence can be found throughout history.    Torture, beheadings, lynching, slavery, genocide, mass murders, serial killers, the list of atrocious acts against humanity is endless just as the list of those who have committed those atrocities; Hitler, Stalin, Idi Amin, Attila the Hun, Pol Pot, Vlad the Impaler (although, I do think his name is pretty cool), John Gacy, H.H Holmes, (both from Chicago) Joel Rifkin, Jeffrey Dahmer, Josef Mengele, Ivan the Terrible, and Qin Shi Huang, just to name few.

So what of Jamar Pinkney Sr.?  Yes, he did a terrible thing, but when the story comes on my television news, I’ll probably change the channel and look for the weather forecast.

The Swagger Sticks LIVE At the Bootleg Theater.

Past Saturday, Nov 14th, The Swagger Sticks played a show at the infamous Bootleg Theater in Silverlake. Icky’s Ego was there to support our buddies, and we’ve got to tell you: we were all happy we did not miss this.

Seeing this band truly is an experience. The front man, Aron Gibson, is a charismatic entertainer whose hilariously funny demeanor on stage makes his shows THE MUST see in town.

We had a talk with bassist Matt Morales after the show, who told us that he is a stand up comedian. No kidding!! I think EVERYONE in the band is, including drummer Simon Hancock. Aron had the audience in stitches when he accepted the Heineken someone handed him on stage with a serious look on his face and declared: ” I just finished my bottle of Jack Daniels back stage but THIS (pointing at his Heineken) is just for show”.

The crowd totally went berserk when only minutes later, right before starting their first song, he sheepishly announced : “Sorry we forgot to bring our extended light show and the hologram projections”.

Besides being very entertaining and funny, The Sticks (as their fans endearingly call the band) were really tight, energetic, powerful and punchy in their performance of the songs. They played the whole album, and concluded with a smoking version of the Kiss classic “Detroit Rock City”.

The Swagger Sticks seem to be building a strong following in LA really fast, cause they had an amazing turnout on this show. After all: this was really only their 3rd or 4th performance since they released their debut album.

Stick it!, the debut from The Swagger Sticks, was released in August 2009 and draws on class of ‘77 punk and a wide range of power pop and indie rock influences from bands like The White Stripes, Foo Fighters, Killers, Green Day and Material Issue.

I was glad to see Jeff join The Sticks on trumpet to perform “Worldwide Pop Star” with the band on this show. It was one of the many highlights of the show.

You HAVE to check this band out, and you won’t have to wait too long to do so cause Icky’s Ego has FAN-TASSS-TIC news for you:

Vreny will be joining The Sticks on bass on Saturday the 28th Nov in The TRip in Santa Monica AND… He will be taking over bass duties with The Swagger Sticks for THAT show ONLY. (The Sticks bassist will be performing stand up comedy shows in Vegas that weekend).

YES… you read that correctly:

Icky’s Ego bassist performing LIVE with the Sticks. BE THERE OR BE SQUARE.

Saturday Nov 28th at 10pm

THE TRIP

2101 Lincoln Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90405

This is going to be an amazingly fun show. Icky’s Ego will be there to rock out with The Sticks and our bassist.

Come join us and The Swagger Sticks for what is going to be a great musical experience by a solid band that knows how to have fun and rock your socks off.

When we graduated from college in 2008, my friend Cory wrote a series of lists of events from our college years for the Whitworth Forum. He wanted to do a list of the top 10 songs, but thought someone more into the scene should do it. Enter yours truly. What follows is unchanged from when I originally wrote it in late April 2008.

When Cory asked me to write this column a few months back, I couldn’t believe it. My reaction was something to the effect of, “Are you kidding me? I don’t think anyone can actually do that list justice.” Yet here we are, three weeks from the end of the school year, and I’m giving you the Top Ten Songs of 2004-2008.

First of all, this list is useless if you can’t listen for yourself. For your convenience, I’ve posted a link to a YouTube video of each song as it is on the album. Some of them are official music videos, while others are just set up by fans so that people can hear the song for free. I also have to give you a caveat – I realize this list is every bit as subjective as my Top Ten Albums lists are at the end of each year. These are songs that I love desperately, but I realize that not everyone will enjoy them as much as I do. If you disagree with me, that’s great! Post your suggestions in the comments. I will admit right up front that there are a couple of genres that I have missed. Specifically, I can’t stand country music and I don’t think there were very many great rap songs in the past four years. Again, if you think one of them deserves to be on this list, write it in the comments. Prove me wrong.

One final note before we dive in – It’s an absurd idea to try and narrow your iTunes library down to the ten best songs of any era, especially a full four-year span. It is absolutely insane. But I have to recommend it – read this column, agree or disagree with me, and then go make your own list. I’d love to see it, and hopefully we can all discover some great new music together.

Anyway! On to the list!

10.) The Decemberists – Sons & Daughters (unfortunately, I could only find a live version. It still gives a pretty good impression)
The closer to The Decemberists’ 2006 album “The Crane Wife” is the opener to my list. It really is the perfect closer; from its mandolin-led ensemble of acoustic instruments to the way it builds and its final, hopeful refrain: “Here all the bombs fade away.”

9.) The National – Start a War (I have to apologize for showing you scenes from The Notebook; it was the only way I could get the studio version)
This song rumbles like an earthquake, and lead singer Matt Berninger’s voice and melancholy lyrics are at the epicenter. The quiet intensity of this song makes the speaker’s broken relationship all the more poignant, and the progression makes his admission even more heartbreaking: “You were always weird, but I never had to hold you by the edges like I do now.”

8.) The Rocket Summer – So Much Love
I will always remember where I was when I heard this song for the first time. I was driving back from Best Buy after picking up The Rocket Summer’s third full-length album, 2007’s “Do You Feel.” I had anxiously unwrapped the album in the parking lot and flipped it on. “Do You Feel” opens up with some immediate rocking, and I knew after one track that this disc would be Bryce Avery’s finest hour. He didn’t disappoint. The next track, “So Much Love,” is everything you could ask for in a fun summer song – a sweet horn solo, a gigantic piano lick, and some inspirational, simple, and somehow profound sing-along lyrics. Above all, though, it’s just a blast. You can imagine Avery jumping around the studio, yelling at the top of his lungs: “You look like the songs that I heard my whole life coming true!”

7.) The Killers – When You Were Young
When I first heard this song, my first thought was, “Yeah, this is pretty good. But it doesn’t sound like The Killers.” I was right about one part. The Killers listened to a lot of Bruce Springsteen before recording 2006’s “Sam’s Town,” and The Boss’ influence shines through (especially in lead singer Brandon Flowers’ performance). What I was wrong about, however, was how much this song would grow on me as I kept listening to it. This would have been hands down the best straightforward rock and roll song of this period, if not for the song coming in at number five.

6.) Gwen Stefani (feat. Akon) – The Sweet Escape

Every couple of years, there is a new undeniably catchy pop song that captures the ears and hearts of America’s music critics. Not just pop music consumers either; these songs are loved by snobbish elitists and 13-year-old girls alike. There were a few great ones to choose from in this time period (including Justin Timberlake’s “SexyBack” and Kelly Clarkson’s “Since U Been Gone”), but “The Sweet Escape” was the finest. Akon is pretty dispensable on this one, but Gwen Stefani proved that she was more than just B-A-N-A-N-A-S.

(#5-1 after the jump)

5.) Foo Fighters – Best of You
Foo Fighters have been at it since 1995. In their tenth anniversary year, they released an album called “In Your Honor.” More than any other song on this list, I have to implore you to watch the video. It perfectly sums up the themes that must have been running through Dave Grohl’s head while writing this song – joy and angst, agony and ecstacy, passion and pain, despair and hope. This song expresses more raw emotion than most of today’s rockers would dare to write about, and it does the job in four minutes and sixteen seconds.

4.) Sufjan Stevens – Chicago
This seems about right for the best song on the best album to be released during my college career. “Chicago” charmed indie rock fanatics and soundtrack composers alike (see “Little Miss Sunshine”), and it made a genuine low-level celebrity out of Sufjan. There are so many highlights on his 2005 album, “Come On, Feel The Illinoise,” that it was difficult to choose one. But with the xylophone intro, soaring strings section, and Sufjan’s softly warbling voice directing it all, “Chicago” was the biggest and best of them all. It seems to be the least likely line for an anthem, but there it is: “I’ve made a lot of mistakes.”

3.) Band of Horses – The Funeral
When Band of Horses first recorded this song, singer/guitarist/songwriter Ben Bridwell didn’t even want to put it on their debut album, 2006’s “Everything All The Time.” Bridwell thought “The First Song” or “The Great Salt Lake” would be the radio hit. But it was this one which, like “Sons & Daughters,” is remarkable for its simplicity. “Every occasion, I’ll be ready for the funeral,” Bridwell chirps over crunching guitars and crashing cymbals. If only every song about loss could be this reverent while simultaneously expressing so much anguish.

2.) Arcade Fire – Rebellion (Lies)
Arcade Fire are an enigma, and they like it that way. This song is partially about hiding “underneath the covers,” but also about exposing the mythology of parents’ rhetoric. The themes that seem melodramatic on much of their 2004 album “Funeral” actually work to great effect here. The thumping heartbeat of the song, coupled with ornate instrumentation and the growing urgency in Win Butler’s voice make this song one to remember – and, perhaps as important, one to play really, really loud.

1.) The Format – If Work Permits
Nate Ruess has just about the most distinctive voice in indie rock, and he makes use of it at all volumes here. Starting out with the sound of crickets and a finger-picked acoustic melody, Ruess unfolds two stories: one about an abused friend who becomes scared of love, and one about the speaker’s roller coaster relationship. As the song builds and unfolds, so do the stories. The moral? Any kind of love means making yourself vulnerable, but that doesn’t mean you have to be afraid.

DEAD of KNIGHT Is A Jack Staal Mystery:

Your next birthday could be murder!

Believing he is a soldier of justice, a misguided young man begins a callous campaign of terror murdering women on their birthdays. Convinced of his righteousness he continues his brutal crusade forcing the citizens of Hanson B.C. to acknowledge a serial killer active in their rural community.

The Mounties always get their man…but not if Jack Staal gets him first!

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police put their Integrated Homicide Investigation Teams into action. Detective Jack Staal and the rest of Hanson PD are invited to support the RCMP. However, Staal, the once elite major-crime investigator reduced to small-town detective is desperate for redemption. He ignores protocol to work a case that is not his to solve.

Told from the perspective of both killer and cop DEAD of KNIGHT is a cat and mouse thriller sure to delight fans of Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta or Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch.

The First Review:

Author William R. Potter takes the reader into the heart and soul of his protagonist and into the warped mind of a psychopath. Potter’s first full length novel, Dead of Knight is told from the point-of-view of Detective Jack Staal and from the perspective of a killer who murders women on their birthdays.

Through clever use of back story, we learn that Detective Staal is suffering from post-traumatic stress after a horrific shooting. Unable to shake the horror of that day, Staal has left his position with the Vancouver PD’s homicide squad and has resurrected his career with the police service in a fictional country town called Hanson, British Columbia.

Anxious to work the biggest case of his career, Staal is forced to the outside when the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s Integrated Homicide Teams are assigned to the case. Not one to sit on the sidelines, Staal convinces his colleagues to follow his lead and pursue a serial killer the media has dubbed Birthday Boy.

Believing he is a soldier of justice, a misguided young man has begun a callous campaign of terror. Damian Knight (Birthday Boy) is convinced of his righteousness and continues his brutal crusade of revenge. As his death count mounts, so does Knight’s courage and he soon turns his anger on a fatigued Staal. Staal and Knight play out a cat and mouse thrill ride that culminates with an epic, one-on-one meeting of cop versus killer.

Potter has created an intriguing police procedural with a strong main character, a terrific supporting cast, and a plot with twists, turns, and plenty of red herrings. I have read many books in this genre featuring a main character that is a bullet-proof, womanizing Neanderthal. However, Potter’s Jack Staal takes a pounding, both physically and emotionally. This is one author who isn’t afraid to show his hero breaking down or making mistakes. Potter has penned a captivating tale filled with plenty of tension and conflict, crisp dialogue and an unrelenting pace. He puts us in the story with vivid descriptions and scene-painting narrative.

I highly recommend Dead of Knight -A Jack Staal Mystery. It is sure to delight fans of Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta or Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch.

Reviewed by Erin Hynd for Reader’s Choice Literary Reviews

Book Details:

RealTime Publishing

ISBN: 9781849610261

Genre: Murder Mystery Thriller

Purchase Links:

http://www.theebooksale.com/zen-cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=722

http://www.deadofknightwrp.com

http://www.williamrpotter.com

Other Titles:

Lighting the Dark Side: Six Modern Tales by William R. Potter

LIGHTING THE DARK SIDE won the 2009 Allbooks Review Editor’s Choice Award for short story collections.

LIGHTING THE DARK SIDE is a collection of six stories. Each selection features leading characters that live their lives as normally as possible and then suddenly find themselves in extraordinary situations.

Author Contact:

wrpotter@booksinsync.com

Please visit William R. Potter’s Author’s Web Page:

http://www.booksinsync.com/authordirectory/potterwilliam.html

Submitted by Theodocia McLean

Owner of Books In Sync

Website: http://www.booksinsync.com

Dead Of Knight By Award Winning Author William R. Potter

A banda The Killers vai fazer um show aqui no Brasil nesse final de semana.

Mas para que esperar só pelo show?

A Amazon.com abaixou o preço do Blu-Ray do The Killers para U$13,99!!!

Sai menos de R$40,00 com o frete!

E o melhor de tudo, legendado em português!

A imagem está fantástica! Clique para ampliar.

Sem contar que o setlist está incrível!

1. Human
2. Somebody Told Me
3. For Reasons Unknown
4. The World We Live In
5. Joyride
6. I Can’t Stay
7. Bling (Confessions Of A King)
8. Shadowplay
9. Smile Like You Mean It
10. Losing Touch
11. Spaceman
12. A Dustland Fairytale
13. Sam’s Town (Accoustic)
14. Read My Mind
15. Mr. Brightside
16. All These Things That I’ve Done
17. Sweet Talk
18. This River Is Wild
19. Bones
20. Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine
21. When You Were Young

Bonus Performances:
22. Tranquilize – Oxegen Festival
23. Human – Hyde Park
24. Mr. Brightside
25. Smile Like You Mean It – V Festival
26. When You Were Young – V Festival

Para comprar basta acessar o link abaixo que vai direto na promoção!

The Killers – Live From Royal Albert Hall [Blu-ray]

Today’s interview features New York Times Best-selling author Chelsea Cain, discussing her profoundly addictive and disturbing new novel, Evil at Heart.

If you think Hannibal Lechter is scary? Check out serial killer Gretchen Lowell who is beautiful, brilliant, and cunning. This fall, Cain will carve out a place for herself on bookshelves everywhere with her new novel.

Evil at Heart is the third novel in Cain’s highly praised Gretchen Lowell/Archie Sheridan series, which heralded the birth of the new captivating face of evil and psychological suspense.

In my interview with Chelsea, I got to ask her some questions her fans dying to know.

AG: So serial killers and journalism: Are these two of your top interests?

CC: Right up there with infanticide and cannibalism. I’m kidding, of course. I wouldn’t include either serial killers or journalism in my top interests. Though if I did, serial killers would be way higher on the list. I just really like thrilling stories and these seem to lend themselves to that genre.

AG: Your inspiration for the book came from the Green River Killer case, but how did you come up with Gretchen Lowell? She’s pretty twisted.

CC: I actually remember reading stories as a kid about the Green River Killer in the Bellingham Herald. The idea of this unidentified killer being pursued by a task force of cops really captured my attention. I wanted my killer to be a woman because it made the obsessive nature of the cop-killer relationship instantly more complicated. But I wanted her to kill violently, like a man, because she enjoys it. Culturally we demand an explanation from our female killers. We want to blame their motives on a man – a bad father, a bad boyfriend. I didn’t want to provide an easy explanation for Gretchen’s homicidal tendencies. It’s way scarier to not understand her.

AG: How did you do the research for this book? Did you talk to any serial killers?

CC: No, and I hope I never do. I also didn’t actually torture anyone, though it probably would have lent some verisimilitude to the narrative. Maybe I’ll consider it for the sequels. I did read a lot of case studies about psychopaths. There is a great cannon of interviews with jailed psychopaths that is incredibly disturbing and illuminating. I also read a lot of forensic pathology texts, visited a billion web sites, talked to doctors, and read police handbooks. But the great thing about fiction is that if you find a few details that ring especially true, readers tend to go along with all the stuff you make up. (She says, fingers crossed.)

AG: It seems like you have a few things in common with the character of young reporter Susan Ward. How alike are you two?

CC: Susan and I share some of the same insecurities and preoccupation with fashion. She writes for The Oregon Herald. I write for The Oregonian. But she is way, way, way more damaged than I am. And my past is not nearly as complicated.

AG: The first thing I thought about when I read the first book Heartsick was Hannibal Lector. Are you hoping to turn Gretchen Lowell into a movie star any time soon? Who do you think could play I her?

CC: Heartsick has been optioned to be a movie, so there is a production company working very hard to get it made. They’ve got a script in development right now. Honestly, I’m pretty open-minded in terms of casting. Anthony Hopkins? Sure! The names that readers most often suggest are Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman and Angelina Jolie. Any of those actresses would be terrific. I also really like Storm Large (the performer who portrays Gretchen on the website). She looks exactly like the Gretchen of my imagination. Which is sort of scary.

AG: I love the Gretchen Lowell fan site. Especially all the Gretchen sightings. What kind of response are you getting from fans?

CC: The people who find it really seem to like it. I’ve always thought of that site as a sort of DVD extra – readers who take the time to look up the url that’s mentioned as a plot point in Evil at Heart get rewarded with this funny and twisted ode to Gretchen. For the Gretchen sightings, our designer just went downtown and photographed blond women with their faces turned. In about an hour she had all the photos we needed.

AG: I’m a huge fan of HBO’s True Blood series. During one of the last episodes, Maryanne was sitting at the kitchen table reading a copy of Heartsick! I was so surprised…true story…I got up and did a victory dance. Please give me the scoop, were you as surprised as the rest of us, or was this something HBO contacted you about in advance? How has being featured on the show affected the book?

CC: That was pretty fucking awesome. I had no idea. We TIVO it so weren’t watching it live, but my husband’s mother called and left a message saying that she’d seen the book on True Blood, and my husband told me and I was like, no way, she’s wrong, she just thought she saw it. And then my husband’s father called (they’ve been divorced for thirty years, but apparently still watch the same TV shows), and he said the same thing. So we ran home and watched it, and sure enough there was Maryanne reading Heartsick! I peed my pants a little. As for sales, I have no idea. There was definitely increased web chatter about the book. And people continue to see it and bring it up to me. I love True Blood, so it was a huge thrill to be a tiny part of that show for a moment.

AG: Finally, what do you hope to do after this series is over?

CC: Over? I plan to write these suckers until someone makes me stop. But I am planning on starting another series to juggle along side it – more thrillers set in Portland. So stay tuned.

If you would like to learn more about Chelsea Cain and her books please stop by ChelseaCain.com. For the hard-core Gretchen Lowell fans among you, since her escape, she’s been spotted in Oslo, Munich, Shanghai, and Ontario. Please stop by I Heart Gretchen Lowell if you need to send her a message or report a sighting.

Heartsick by Chelsea Cain

Det. Archie Sheridan led the Beauty Killer Task Force for ten years, before the Beauty Killer (Gretchen Lowell) caught him, tortured him for ten days and then mysteriously let him go and turned herself in. Now it’s two years later and Archie, addicted to pain pills and still obsessed with Gretchen, is called off medical leave to hunt a second serial killer. Pink-haired girl journalist Susan Ward is assigned to profile Archie. She knows he’s hiding something. But what? (It’s bigger than a breadbox.)

“In her dynamite first thriller, Cain introduces one of the most seductive and original psychopaths since Hannibal Lecter.”–Entertainment Weekly

Read an Excerpt
Watch the trailer

Sweetheart by Chelsea Cain

When the body of a young woman is discovered in Forest Park, Archie is reminded of the first corpse he discovered there a decade ago: it turned out to be the Beauty Killer’s first victim, and Archie’s first case. Then, the unthinkable happens: Gretchen escapes from prison, and once the news breaks, all of Portland goes on high alert…but secretly, Archie is relieved. He knows he’s the only one who can capture Gretchen—and now he has a plan to get out from under her thumb once and for all. Even if it means becoming her last victim…

“We’ve been down Hannibal Lecter Avenue many times, and these two books shouldn’t work . . . but they do. Chalk it up to excellent writing and Cain’s ferocious sense of humor. The Portland (Ore.) setting is refreshing too.”—Stephen King

Read an Excerpt
Watch the trailer

Evil At Heart by Chelsea Cain

Gretchen is still on the loose and Archie is still hospitalized after his ploy to catch her went spectacularly wrong. They’ve entered a detente of sorts: Archie agrees not to kill himself if she agrees not to kill anyone else. But suddenly there’s something else to contend with that might be worse – a zealous fan of Gretchen’s, paying homage to the Beauty Killer by luring Archie and reporter Susan Ward to the scene of a grisly murder. At least they hope it’s the work of someone new, for the prospect of Gretchen breaking her promise is more than Archie can bear.

“Cain delivers her usual blend of organ-ripping, blood-soaked gore and compelling flawed heroes—and antiheroes.”–Publishers Weekly

Read an Excerpt
Watch the trailer

Får väl åtminstone försöka matcha Znogges näpna lilla kattunge...

Här kommer den skräckinjagande varelsen i alla fall...

…även om jag inser att det blir svårt!
Den lilla jycken kommer (liksom övriga bilder hittills i Nattens Näpna-serien från ett mail som min gamle skogshuggar-
polare Greven sände mig för en tid sedan…

]]> http://af11.wordpress.com/2009/11/15/hollywood-goodfella-gang-henchmen-jailed-for-murder-of-tony-bromley/ Sun, 15 Nov 2009 04:17:59 +0000 af11 http://af11.wordpress.com/2009/11/15/hollywood-goodfella-gang-henchmen-jailed-for-murder-of-tony-bromley/

TWO “gangland henchmen” were today starting life sentences for the vicious machete murder of a Liverpool teenager.

Tony Bromley – the son of infamous gangland enforcer George Bromley – was brutally slain by Denis Gilboy and Scott Walker, allegedly acting under orders from a “kingpin” crime family.