Os quadrinhos sempre fizeram referências à religião. Nos últimos anos essas referências vem se intensificando cada vez mais. E porque isso é importante para a teologia dos adventistas do sétimo dia? É importante porque a Bíblia ensina que nos últimos dias toda a humanidade será levada a uma grande discussão religiosa sobre obedecer Deus ou o Vaticano (Apocalipse 13:8). Esta discussão apenas terminará em um decreto internacional de morte contra todos os que estiverem ao lado do Deus judeu (Apocalipse 13:15-17). Porém, este Deus se levantará do seu aparente sono para salvar todos os que estiverem escritos no seu Livro (Daniel 12:1-3).

O fato dos jovens estarem acostumados a ler sobre religião, quando nos últimos 100 anos, todos os intelectuais tenham profetizado o fim de sua influência no ocidente, demonstra que o ponto de vista dos adventistas do sétimo dia resistiu ao teste da história e caminha ao seu total cumprimento.

Um exemplo da influência da religião sobre os escritores [e leitores] é a mini-série Kingdom Come de 1996. Kingdom Come é uma expressão tirada da oração do PAI NOSSO na língua inglesa que significa VENHA TEU REINO. No Brasil a mini-série foi traduzida como ‘O Reino do Amanhã’.

A mini série se baseia em textos do livro do Apocalipse para contar a história de um futuro cheio de heróis violentos e injustos, em que Superman e outros ícones do passado desistiram de lutar. A Segunda Vinda do Homem de Aço leva a batalha do Armagedom para restabelecer a justiça.

Um excelente contraste entre a ciência e a religião está entre Superman e Capitão Marvel. O primeiro tem seus poderes advindos de uma explicação ‘ciêntífica’. O  corpo do Superman age como uma bateria carregada pelo sol amarelo, que lhe concede super-poderes. Já o Capitão Marvel retira seus poderes de divindades pagãs. A palavra mágica Shazam, que leva uma criança a se transformar no Capitão Marvel, advém dos seguintes seres:

S= Salomão (sabedoria)
H= Hércules (força)
A= Atlas (resistência)
Z= Zeus (poder)
A= Aquiles (coragem)
M= Mercúrio (velocidade)

O Interessante é que foi acrescentado o bíblico Salomão como fonte de seu poder, mas devemos observar que na Bíblia ele não possuía poder próprio, mas concedido por Deus.

Visto que o Capitão Marvel tem o poder concedido pelos deuses, nos últimos anos vem sendo considerado mais poderoso que o homem de aço, frequentemente o vencendo ou vindo em sua ajuda nas histórias em quadrinhos. Vejamos a imagem abaixo:

Curiosamente, Superman e Capitão Marvel são os principais personagens de Kingdom Come e a luta entre eles decide o destino da humanidade.

Os adventistas creem que nos últimos dias surgirão provas incontestes da existência de Deus. A ciência será reinterpretada a luz da religião levando o mundo a um conflito final entre o Deus da Bíblia e o deus do Vaticano, com a vitória do Deus da Bíblia:

Quando a proteção das leis humanas for retirada dos que honram a lei de Deus, haverá, nos diferentes países, um movimento simultâneo com o fim de destruí-los. Aproximando-se o tempo indicado no decreto, o povo conspirará para desarraigar a odiada seita. Resolver-se-á dar em uma noite um golpe decisivo, que faça silenciar por completo a voz de dissentimento e reprovação.

É ouvida pelo povo de Deus uma voz clara e melodiosa, dizendo: “Olhai para cima”; e, levantando os olhos para o céu, contemplam o arco da promessa. As nuvens negras, ameaçadoras, que cobriam o firmamento se fendem e, como Estêvão, olham fixamente para o céu, e vêem a glória de Deus, e o Filho do homem sentado sobre o Seu trono. Divisam em Sua forma divina os sinais de Sua humilhação; e de Seus lábios ouvem o pedido, apresentado ante Seu Pai e os santos anjos: “Aqueles que Me deste quero que, onde Eu estiver, também eles estejam comigo.” João 17:24. Novamente se ouve uma voz, melodiosa e triunfante, dizendo: “Eles vêm! eles vêm! santos, inocentes e incontaminados. Guardaram a palavra da Minha paciência; andarão entre os anjos”; e os pálidos, trêmulos lábios dos que mantiveram firme a fé, proferem um brado de vitória.

Os inimigos da lei de Deus, desde o ministro até ao menor dentre eles, têm nova concepção da verdade e do dever. Demasiado tarde vêem que o sábado do quarto mandamento é o selo do Deus vivo. Tarde demais vêem a verdadeira natureza de seu sábado espúrio, e o fundamento arenoso sobre o qual estiveram a construir. Acham que estiveram a combater contra Deus. Ensinadores religiosos conduziram almas à perdição, ao mesmo tempo que professavam guiá-las às portas do Paraíso. Antes do dia do ajuste final de contas, não se conhecerá quão grande é a responsabilidade dos homens no mister sagrado, e quão terríveis são os resultados de sua infidelidade. Somente na eternidade poderemos com acerto avaliar a perda de uma única alma. Terrível será a condenação daquele a quem Deus disser: Retira-te, mau servo.

O Grande Conflito. p. 635.

Thanks to Oana who have found this interview with Lauri made by Aamulehti.fi talking about parenthood, touring with Alice Cooper,Scorpions and Kingdom come, and previous experience at the Linna Celebration on Independence Day of Finland (6th December). You can find the translation of the article below, and since it is made by me please link us if you repost it. Thank You!

Lauri Ylönen promises to behave this time at the Linna Celebrations
The Rasmus Lauri Ylönen made a picture of himself with his phone’s camera for Aamulehti.
The Rasmus celebrates their 15th anniversary with releasing a collection album and with a gig in the sports hall of the Suutarila High School.
Where can we find the most fanatic The Rasmus fans?
-Maybe in Britain. There are a couple of girl fans who have been at 62 gigs. They are a bit older, oh well aged around 30 who wanted also to come to the celebration gig.
What is the strangest thing ever you have done during your career?
-In Taiwan i was live on the TV drinking some snake poison drink.
During the summer you’ve been touring with Alice Cooper, Scorpions and Kingdom Come in Russia. What kind of experience it was?
-It was great to be around our childhood heroes. Everyone was nice and really open. The 30-years of age difference wasn’t disturbing at all. Sometimes it was weird to see the same aged guys put the same make-up on their face…it was both sad and cool in the same time.
Who is taking care of your son if the mother PMMP’s Paula vesala and you are at a gig too?
-There haven’t been too much of those situation recently, because most of us band members have young children and been at kind of a paternity leave.
So you will be going to the Linna Celebrations?
-While i have been on my Asian trip i have got some couple of dresses that would do fine for the Linna Celebrations. This time i will go to the party with a partner. Last time i took a friend with me, Siiri Nordin. I thought you don’t have to bring at the party your lady. But apparently i have been forgiven. And i promise that this time i will behave.
The Rasmus will have their 15-year anniversary concert on the 23.11 in the Gym Hall of the Suutarila High School. Their Best of 2001-2009 compilation album appears on the 23.11.
Read more questions and Lauri Ylönen’s answers in Wednesday’s Aamulehti.

Kthulu Shop te ofrece un adelanto previsor a las fiestas de fin de año.

Sabemos muy bien lo detestable que es salir a vitrinear durante estas fechas. El calor, las calles atestadas de gente, el sudor y los olores típicos del centro de la ciudad durante los días más calurosos tienden a convertir estas fiestas en un motivo de estrés más. Si sumamos a eso la limitada oferta que tenemos cuando se trata de regalar cosas a seres que significan mucho para ti, Navidad y su vorágine consumista terminan siendo una fecha intolerable…

Pero ahora tienes una alternativa! sin moverte de casa puedes pedir el regalo que más te gusta para la persona que más quieres. Busca en internet el artículo que deseas adquirir y envíanos el link en un correo a kthulu.shop@gmail.com. Buscaremos la manera más rápida y segura de traer el articulo que deseas a tiempo para que coincida con el paso del viejo pascuero por Chile.

En esta segunda parte nos avocaremos a uno de los artes contemporaneos mas populares, el comic…

Las ediciones Absolute son la perfecta forma de leer un comic histórico como Kingdom Come, Sandman o Dark Knight. Estas ediciones incluyen no sólo una impresión impecable de última generación sino una cantidad abrumadora de información extra que sólo coleccionistas y conocedores sabrán apreciar. Todas las ediciones Absolute recorren desde la creación de personajes hasta las reseñas y críticas posteriores al lanzamiento, incluyendo bosquejos originales, comentarios de los creadores, portadas descartadas de las ediciones originales, ensayos sobre las temáticas a cargo de los mismos escritores e ilustradores y mucho mucho más, todo ello en una presentación simplemente de lujo. Tomos en tapa dura con diseños únicos y con cubierta protectora.

Estas ediciones son las que gritan en tu cara que el comic hace mucho tiempo que paso a ser de libro de historietas a novela gráfica.

No hay item de colección más importante hoy en día que los Vaults. Bajo el subtitulo de “Un Museo En Un Libro” las ediciones Vault incluyen reimpresiones de memorabillia histórica. Dibujan la historia, en imagenes que forman parte de la cultura popular de todos los tiempos, de Marvel, DC y ahora tambien Batman.

Y si estas ediciones de lujo te parecen maravillosas, tambien te ofrecemos colecciones completas de series increibles y por un precio extraordinario.

Series completas en sus respectivas maletas para que jamas pierdas de vista ni un solo tomo!

Y un favorito personal…

Todos los estilos y a todos los precios… elige tu regalo y escribenos a kthulu.shop@gmail.com

Si quieres algo que no este en nuestro blog simplemente envianos un correo con el link de internet y lo buscaremos al precio mas conveniente para ti.

Reading a book while commuting is like being accompanied by a real person on your way to work. It makes the whole ride to the office less dreadful.

Once I was accompanied by Thad Beaumont and let me tell you, he gave me my most violent morning to date. I also recall being accompanied by Dolores Claiborne, she talked a whole lot but it was fun because when she talked about Vera Donovan, I felt pity, fury and terror all at the same time. When Clay, Alice and Tom joined me in my early morning commute to work, I was inspired to raise zombies in my workstation for Halloween.

Whenever a character is about to say goodbye, I feel sad and panicky. I start thinking of another book to read. I am no literary connoisseur so I tend to stick to the authors I’ve developed a furious admiration for. That will be King and Gaiman. I read other titles too but these two guys are the ones who occupy the most space in my desk.

I recently finished the whole of Sandman and it was awesome. Morpheus is the best companion of all because he brings a whole army of other creatures and characters for me to play with.

Which now brings me to my next target: Wicked. I was dead set on getting Wicked after work. I heard Elphaba and Glinda are awesome commute-mates. I went to Megamall and headed straight to Powerbooks. I wanted to maximize the card thinger I got from there. After making me wait for 20 minutes:

Powerbooks Girl: Sorry, out of stock
Me: Oh… really?
Powerbooks Girl: May dadating naman po. Gusto niyo magpareserve?
Me: Kelan dadating?
Powerbooks Girl: Hindi po namin alam eh.

Uhm… whut? I turned my back on her and went to National Bookstore. I was surprised with the number of graphic novels they have in stock. Then my eyes traveled and found a whole shelf full of Gregory Maguire books.

Mirror Mirror… Lost… Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister… Son of a Witch… A Lion Among Men…

…That’s it? They had everything except Wicked. Great. I felt so sickened right at the pit of my stomach that I wanted to either throw up or cry. I thought of buying LXG or Swamp Thing or V for Vendetta instead since I have been planning to buy those anyway… but it just wasn’t the same. I had an appointment with Elphaba, it just felt wrong to be with someone else. So I went to the nearest bookstore: Bestsellers in Podium.

Eureka! They have it! So now I’m a happy sorbetera. I was so happy, I took Kingdom Come off the shelf as well. I’ve been meaning to read it since… oh I don’t know, three years ago? Two years? And since Bestsellers didn’t have V for Vendetta (why is everything fucking out of stock!) and Kingdom Come was just 700php, I took it!

Yay! New companions!

Jesse and I are putting together a questionnaire about people’s personal collections for distribution later in the month (hopefully). Thinking up questions has gotten me thinking about my own mound of long boxes. The question I spend the most time reflecting on is: what books/ artists/ writers informed my taste in comics?

These are the three biggest influences for me.

1. Marvel Milestone Edition: Giant-sized X-Men #1 I wonder if it isn’t weird that the book that seriously got me into comics is a mass market reprint. Right around the time I turned twelve I got a copy of this reprint from Walden Books. Changed my life. I had previously only dabbled a little in Spider-Man, Superman, and Batman, but seeing the fast pace and the variety of characters spoke to me. I loved Cyclops as a near stoic leader, and I loved seeing Professor X putting the team together. I had never seen or read anything like it, and I wanted more. The X-Men were my gateway drug into comics.

I still have a deep love of the mutant world, but I don’t follow the convoluted stories and plot threads in most of the current titles. Looking at my collection now, I see that it influenced me in a deeper way: a majority of my collection is team books. In most cases, I would rather read about a team than seeing an individual going it alone issue after issue.

2. In the same way that you can break down the group sports fans into more specific groupings, you can break down comic book collectors.  Generally, most collectors can be compared to baseball fans. Rabid, detail/ minutia minded, fact filled, and dedicated. There are a couple of groups that stand out as especially rabid and stereotypical: Legion of Superhero fans and golden age fans. Golden Age are essentially Yankee fans. There’s a love of history, tradition, an age gone by, and legacy. Legion fans are Cubs fans. It’s harsh, but true. Every time there’s a new Legion series it’ll start off with a bang, but it’ll peter out before or during the playoffs. Just like the Cubs each season. So Legion fans stand out because they stick around to the bitter end and complain, but they come back series after series knowing it’ll only end in heartbreak. This is a roundabout way to say that I’m a golden age fan. What turned me on actually wasn’t exactly a comic book; it was a book about comic books.

The summer between junior and senior year in high school, I had to spend my days with my father at work. He worked in the library of the local university. Here I found an encyclopedia of golden age characters. It was surprisingly comprehensive in both detail about character and variety of entries. I learned of Captain Triumph, Air-Wave I, Blue Beetle I, Hyrdroman, Hourman, Starman, Vision I, Angel I, etc… I practically memorized the book. Coincidentally, it was around this time that Sandman Mystery Theatre published it’s Hourman story arc. I scooped it up and that’s all she wrote. I was the comic book equivalent of a Yankee’s fan for good.

3. Kingdom Come is, for me, the best most enjoyable alternate reality story/ dystopian comic book story. I read this book at least once a year and I’m still finding new things in both the art and writing. Yes, Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen are revolutionary and brilliant, but they’re brilliant in the same depressing way that Brecht and Wagner and Dostoevsky and Tolstoy are brilliant. Kingdom Come stands out because it speaks to the optimist in me. The book ends with hope. As grumpy as I can be, it comes from a place of disappointment more than depression, spite, or plain contrarian views. A frustration that things aren’t as good as they could or should be.

Hope is what comics are about for me.  Don’t get me wrong; it’s not Pollyanna-esque or any other uninformed optimism. Hope is people using their abilities (magical or unrealistic as they may seem) to make their world a better place in some way. Certainly you stray from that goal from time to time, and you can lose your way pretty easily. Kingdom Come shows that if you can just relocate that path you’ll come out better and stronger. It’s a helluva story with art that will knock you on your ass. At the end of the day, it’s THE comic book in my collection.

These three books are what have shaped me as a collector. Each is emblematic of a theme or trend you would notice if you looked at my collection as a single body of work. What books, titles, artists, or writers have shaped, guided, or informed your collections?

Today was simply one of the most exciting days in my whole life, and I have no idea where to start. I met with and talked with so many great people in the local and overseas comic industry, whom I’ve only been able to admired from afar. The highlight of the day was being able to share my opinions on interactive comics with Mark Waid (!!!). ^_^

It was the Singapore Writer’s Festival’s “Comics – A Timeless Narrative” panel that made it all come together. A Time magazine reporter asked the panel if they can see comics making use of web technology and multimedia in the future, and Mark Waid replied that the problem with introducing different types of media (like sound and video) into comics was that readers can no longer control the pace of reading, which is an integral part of what defines the comics medium.

After hearing that, I had to talk to him, as I have been doing a comic interactivity research under Professor Kevin McGee the past few months, and my research has turned up some pre-existing interactive comics on the internet that uses animation but at the same time allows the reader to retain control over the pace of reading.

And there are several ways of doing it, using mouse clicks to progress to the next panel (nb: not next page!), mouseover to animate separate panels, or to pop up speech bubbles, and things like that. I can’t say too much because the research is on-going and I don’t want to influence future participants who might read my blog, but if anyone is interested I’ll be glad to provide more information through email once I clear it with my prof.

In short, for the research, I’ve been showing participants different webcomics which incorporate animation and story choices in different ways, and finding out from them which method is preferred or improve their comic reading experience. The responses have been very interesting so far, and I hope if we get enough funding and interest in it we can expand the research boundaries to include questions on whether music and other forms of multimedia affect reader’s experience as well.

While that is all very interesting the point is that I got to talk to Mark Waid! I totally remember raving over Kingdom Come with Desmond in Bugis Kinokyniya, the art was gorgeous, the story was so different from what we usually see in superhero comics, and we get to see batman when he is old!

How cool is that, to see that old geezer fitted up with steel exoskeleton for his failing bones. Batman getting old was just inconcievable until I opened the book. People just tend to forget he’s human and he’ll degenerate. The metahuman civil war was so epic as well!

Here’s the picture I took with Mark Waid:

It was just a tremendous pleasure to be able to tell him in person that I loved his work. Raving to a friend is one thing, but raving to the author himself just takes the cake! ^_^

I met several other fascinating people in the local comics industry as well, due to the local comic creators brunch that JF organized through the Liquid City forum emailing list. As far as I know this is a first of its kind local comic get-together of sorts, and I was extremely gratified to actually see a community that took up 5 tables at the Funan food court this afternoon.

I met Ye Zhen, a local comic artist at the brunch, and I had a great time talking to him all through the day. He gave me plenty of advice about striking out in the comics industry, and introduced me to Troy Chin, one of the local comic artists I admire very much. Over a second brunch, the three of us and Joyce, another comics lover, exchanged our views on the local comics community and our favorite comics.

I really learnt alot today, from all these people as well as from Lat, Sonny Liew, and Otto Fong, who were at the panel discussion and brunch as well. It was a really inspiring day and it has given me greater hope that working as a comic artist/writer in Singapore is a real possibility!

P.S. 2nd post on all I learnt today coming up tomorrow!

ALBUM: Superfly [Original Soundtrack]

I LOVE that line. “You know you got this fantasy in your head about…gettin out the life and…settin the corporate world on it’s ear…what the fuck you gonna do except hustle…except pimpin…and you really ain’t got the stomach for that.” Heard it first on Jay-Z’s Kingdom Come.

Curtis Mayfield was most definitely JAMMIN!!!

Kingdom Come

First time with Kingdom Come. A band I always return to from time to time. absolutely great show and some really rocking music.

All pictures from the show: Kingdom Come live@The Rock

This is the second in a series that will review each song from Jay-Z’s Blueprint 3.

The second song on the album called Thank You. Ever since American Gangster–maybe even Kingdom Come–Jay has had a more refined style in the tradition of a black Rat Pack; tuxedos, expensive rare drinks and even more rare locales (on wax and in real life).
This second song on the LP finds him in that same mode with lines like, “Now I’m balcony, opera, black Tux, binocula, black luxe, stop it I shouldn’t be so popular.”

The beat is, in my opinion, the best on the entire album which bumps Pharrell’s Ambitious and Timbaland’s Venus Vs. Mars. This is another Kanye/No ID venture and they murdered it. It sounds like they took a clip of Joe Pesci saying, “You’re a wiseguy,” from Goodfellas and low ended it (flitered out the high frequencies) and looped it in the hook which comes out craaaazy! The horns are loud and bright and sonically crisp. The drums bang. They bang. I don’t know how they are doing these things but I’d love to have access to their engineers.

Overall probably one of the best joints on the record. I listened to it for like two days straight.

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Today I ought to have been attending a conference at Exeter University, a day long exploration of ‘The Text and the World’. I was to have delivered a paper myself, on J.G. Ballard’s final novel, Kingdom Come, and the possibility that consumerism has become the modern opium of the masses.

Ought to have been…Well there’s the thing with ill health: you don’t always get to do what you ought or want to do. Scratch that. You frequently have to postpone or outright abandon activities you’d been looking forward to for ages.

Before you ask, yes I do know I’m fairly lucky. I am not suffering a dreadful, terminal illness, just a debilitating and obstructive condition. I have a wife who loves me for the man I am, regardless of the things I can or cannot do on any given day. I have loving friends and family. Yet this does not mean I don’t get depressed at the times I can’t carry out the plans I’d made. It does not mean I don’t sometimes long for a rewind button to undo the things I did that caused the damage to my body in the first place.

Oh, there’s the other thing. The problem is with my lungs. I was a lifelong smoker from the age of ten until five years ago when I quit. I smoked my fair share of Jamaican Woodbines too, if you catch my drift. So the expression some people reach for when they learn of my condition is ’self-inflicted’. Can’t entirely argue, can I? In fact I feel so unable to argue against such a diagnosis that I carry huge amounts of guilt around with me to go over the top of my physical problems, like condiments to add to a TV dinner. But I can’t live the life I now have based on ‘coulda, shoulda, woulda’ from the past. And it’s not as though every single person who smokes cigarettes and goes through a period of monging themselves out on Afghanistan black hashish is then destined to spend the rest of their life suffering with bronchiactesis and related respiratory infections. I didn’t help my own cause but realistically I oughtn’t to take all the blame. Genetics, sheer dumb luck, and other contributing factors need to be thrown into the mix.

Anyway. Whatever the causes and whoever/whatever is to blame, I am sad to have had to cancel my conference appearance. Illness forced me to leave academia two years ago with my PhD uncompleted and illness has pretty much guaranteed ever since that I’m rarely able to rely on the level of sustained concentration which could see me complete the doctorate, with or without university support. I was hoping that the conference would prove that I am at least well enough to participate in such one-off activities, and thus not entirely waste the eight years I spent over-educating myself. Seems not. Back to the drawing board.

DC Direct
Kingdom Come Superman; Hal Jordan; Kilowog; Nightwing; Batman; Robin; Black Hand; Mongul

I hold the opinion that there should be no such thing as a “bad” Jay-Z album. He’s the greatest rapper alive, he has access where others do not, how can he not keep dropping classics? The answer, most likely, is that Jay-Z is only human, and humans have been known to make mistakes. The Blueprint 3 is one such mistake.

I’m not sure why Jay-Z insisted on having a Blueprint trilogy. Sure the first one is a classic, but he already did this three album cycle shit back in the 90’s. And it’s not like The Blueprint 2 was screaming for a finale. I like that album fine, but the criticisms of a bloated nature are not at all out-of-bounds. Also it isn’t nearly as good as The Blueprint. That said, The Blueprint 3 is closer in relation both thematically and song-wise with Kingdom Come, which most people agree is Jay-Z’s worst album. The Blueprint 3 is better than that record, but only just so.

Let’s start with the beats, the bedrock of any great rap record. Jay-Z has long been fabled for his beat choices. Just see him suss out the beat for “What More Can I Say?” in the concert film Fade To Black*. It appears that much like on Kingdom Come, Jay has become less discerning in his tastes. Maybe Hov is just reading the labels and not really listening, but these Timbaland and Neptunes beats aren’t that hot. Timbaland’s “Reminder” might be one of the shittiest tracks he’s ever done that hasn’t appeared on Shock Value. The Neptunes’ beat for “So Ambitious” outdoes it with a weak shamble and a basis around video game sound effects. It sounds like it was sampled from the soundtrack to a The Legend of Zelda. Timbaland does a slightly better job on “Off That“, but the beat is all forward motion, no innovation. Did the guy blow his wad on FutureSex/LoveSounds? But when we’re talking about a failure of beats, the prize goes to “Young Forever“, Jay-Z’s attempt to get a foot in the door of the ever important high school senior class market. If this is any indication of Jay-Z’s next move, expect a freestyle over Toto’s “Africa” before his next album drops.

I’ve read plenty of criticism over the last few years since Kingdom Come that Jay-Z hasn’t really been bringing it lyrically and that his rhyming skills and flow are deteriorating. I had never agreed with this statement until hearing The Blueprint 3. Across the board, track for track, I don’t think Jay-Z delivers anything generally crazy, quotable, or with any sense of greater style. And the man’s only true competition is himself. Take a track like “Thank You“, which plays like a retread of The Black Album’s “Encore“. Jay starts out saying it’s a song for his fans, but then quickly flips it into another attack on his critics, equating them rather clumsily to September 11th, with a strained metaphor of crashing planes into buildings. The beat is nice, but we’re two tracks into the album and he’s evoking terrorist attacks against battle rappers he won’t even name. Not to mention that the first song is an attack on his critics as well. Listen, I’m well aware of the fact that most Jay-Z songs are about how he is awesome, his critics can kiss his ass, and so on. The problem is that Jay-Z used to make songs like this that made such statements self evident. “The Takeover” is a track that slams Nas, Mobb Deep and a slew of other rap competitors by actually being an amazing track built around stellar rhymes, rhyming, and an insane, heavy beat. Jay-Z was telling everyone they weren’t as great as him and proving it at the same time. With The Blueprint 3, Jay is just saying it, taking his top status for granted. He used to show us he was the greatest, now he can only tell us about it. When asked in an interview whether Kanye West out-rapped him on “Run This Town“, Jay-Z responded with a non-committal shrug and instructed the interviewer to compare his overall work to Kanye’s and ask him who was the best. Well sure, if we play it that way of course Jay-Z wins. His hits vastly outweigh his misses. But if he keeps whiffing like this he might just screw up his average.(“Run This Town” is still terrible, by the way. Mostly, it’s Rhianna’s yarl.)

Nice things to say? Sure. Swizz Beatz proves his worth on “On To The Next One” with a wicked beat that is proto typical Swizzy but still energetic. “D.O.A.” isn’t bad, like a second rate “Roc Boys“, which I guess isn’t much of a compliment. Oh well.

I’m a little confused on the theme of The Blueprint 3. The original Blueprint was Jay-Z throwing down the gauntlet and letting everyone know he was a force to be reckoned with. No guests except for Eminem, production from mostly Kanye and Just Blaze**; shit made sense. The Blueprint 2 was more of a victory lap, which is why it felt a bit lazy. Yet, there were some top flight beats and Jay had some sharp rhymes to go along with them. This third iteration seems to indicate, “I’m still here, I’m still great”? A good chunk of the running time is devoted to this plot point, when not denigrating haters and critics, with a occasional aside to reference women from his past (“Venus vs. Mars“) or pay respect to every commercially successful rap act to come up in the last twenty years (“A Star Is Born”). “A Star Is Born” is treacle bullshit, sharing a motif with “Empire State of Mind”, also on The Blueprint 3. On “Empire” Jay lists random New York City locations, while on “Star” he lists random rappers. “Empire” is a little better, and the tracks might even work in with better beats, but the verses are snared between a god awful choruses. The message of these two tracks is “I love New York, also various rappers. Group hug.”

The great irony is that this record clearly cost millions of dollars. Millions in marketing, millions for the beats and studio time, all in the service of what turns out to be a relatively mediocre product(“On To The Next One” notwithstanding). Yet, for significantly less money, Hov is outclassed, on the same release day mind you, by Raekwon’s Only Built For Cuban Linx…Pt. 2. Great beats, trenchant and evocative rhymes, plus passion. Jay would probably argue that if you stack up his career against Raekwon and a blah blah blah. Hey Jay, let’s stack up your pre-retirement career against your post. Real talk.

*Watching this clip still gives me goosebumps, followed by giddy elation. Do you see the guy make that face at the end of the clip, that “Holy shit, Hov is killing it” face? In the first verse of  “On To The Next One” Jay raps that if we don’t like his new albums, go listen to his old ones. Gladly.

**Just Blaze has been unjustly ignored by Hov of late. Just had to footnote that.

Of course they are black. I don’t know if that really is faith that made him forgive these two bastards or not. What is killing me about this whole thing its over $20 and a fucking DONATED dryer and washer…keyword DONATED.

Aundrea Brownlow’s father says he’s forgiven the man who came to Thy Kingdom Come World Ministries swinging a baseball bat that landed a fatal blow to the 14-month-old girl’s head. Her death marked a tragic end to an argument over a $20 debt and a donated washer and dryer.

Still, some residents of Wheaton, a town of about 1,400 near Minnesota’s border with the Dakotas, say greater scrutiny of the church and its pastor’s criminal history are needed to prevent future confrontations.

David Collins, 50, of Wheaton, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder in Aundrea’s death last Thursday. He also faces charges of attempted second-degree murder and second-degree assault against her father, Claude Hankins.

The men had argued earlier over $20 and the washer and dryer given to Hankins by the Rev. Danny Barnes, who started the church nearly five years ago as a welcoming place for people down on their luck.

“I was very angry at first, which I believe is part of the initial shock,” Hankins said inside the church where fellow congregants prepared for his daughter’s Wednesday funeral. “What happens if you keep that anger in you and you don’t forgive somebody, it’s going to stop you from having a productive anything.”

Darryl Kennedy, 42, of Wheaton, also is charged with second-degree assault in the case. Authorities said Kennedy loaned Collins the baseball bat and later showed up at the church and swung at Hankins with a 4-foot-long 2×4.

Collins and Kennedy, who are in custody, have been granted public defenders but were not immediately assigned attorneys.

Barnes said he planned to “attack the true culprit in this particular incident” in his Wednesday eulogy for Aundrea.

“We believe that it was the spirit of addiction,” he said. “It was enhanced by alcohol and drugs.”

Hankins said he could “smell the alcohol reeking off” Collins on the day of the attack and Barnes also said Collins appeared to be under the influence. Collins’ wife, Melissa, said Tuesday night that her husband had no comment.

Barnes, 53, touts Thy Kingdom Come’s yearlong program to help people, especially those battling addiction, clean up their lives. He said there are about 70 registered members, many of whom were referred to the church by shelters, jails, hospitals, treatment programs and other agencies.

Barnes said his own rap sheet includes arrests in at least five states, making him qualified to help others who make mistakes.

“I was the most violent, the most sexually perverse, the most adulterated,” Barnes said, declining to elaborate on his crimes. “It’s my belief I was one of the worst sinners and Jesus Christ saved me from my wretched mind. But this is not a Danny Barnes issue. It’s about the parents and the little baby who lost her life.”

Some residents say the issues are indeed related. Todd Amborn said he was saddened but not surprised to hear about the violence inside the church, where Wheaton police have responded to numerous complaints.

“Right now he’s running damage control for the church,” said Amborn, who has lived in Wheaton for about 20 years and said many residents want Barnes and his church to leave.

Barnes said he’s not going anywhere.

“We believe that there’s going to be people in the community and in other denominations who want to find fault or take issue with what took place and take the low road,” he said. “But we intend to stay together.”

Hankins said the argument started after he called Collins to arrange a time to pick up the washer and dryer, which was being stored on Collins’ porch. Hankins said he had been living at the church for most of nine months but recently closed on a house. Collins became angry about the washer and dryer because Hankins owed him $20, Hankins said.

On Thursday, Collins confronted Hankins at a thrift store and the two had to be separated, according to a criminal complaint.

Collins then went to Kennedy’s apartment, where Kennedy loaned him a baseball bat, and to the church, where Hankins was attending a prayer service, Police Chief Michael Johannsen wrote in the complaint.

Collins confronted Hankins at the back of the church while Hankins was trying to seat his daughter and began swinging the bat over Hankins’ head, Johannsen wrote. One blow hit Aundrea in the head above her right ear, the complaint states.

Collins fled to Kennedy’s, where he threw away the bat, and then to Brookings S.D., 100 miles away, where Barnes found him hours later at a bar.

Hankins called Collins’ anger out of character: “We’re talking about a guy that cooked dinner for the church here that I wouldn’t mind sending my daughter to the store with or going by his house to play with the dog.”

Lt. Vincent Gerard Halloran

“…Her husband, Vincent Halloran, a lieutenant in the New York City Fire Department, died as he was attempting to save lives in the World Trade Center. He was 43 and she was pregnant with their sixth child, their only daughter, who was born on what would have been their 16th wedding anniversary.
The little girl, Phaelan, ran through the living room recently, still wet from a swim in a lake, and gave her mother a squishy hug. She seems like any happy little girl but has weighty concerns others do not.
At her fourth birthday party, Phaelan asked “if her daddy would be coming this year,” Marie Halloran recalled, shutting her eyes to hold back emotion. “She doesn’t quite understand that she will never see him.”
“Sept. 11 has become a catchphrase and frame of reference,” she said. “For us, there is life before and life after. The memory of that day has become something we live with every day.”

http://www.lohud.com/article/20060911/SPECIAL01/609110345

Multimedia

http://www.lohud.com/legacy/Slideshow/9/11/Halloran/index.shtml

Tribute to The FDNY Firefighter during 9/11

A Tribute to the 9/11 Firefighters

Judy Collins – Kingdom Come (Tribute to 9/11 Firemen)

JUDY COLLINS – “Danny Boy” 2000

Hayley Westenra – Never Say Goodbye

November 11, 2001

~Marie Halloran

Finding Hope

Bringing People Together

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 

Judy Collins – Turn Turn Turn

Hayley Westenra – Ave Maria

Amazing Grace – Judy Collins and the choir

Background Articles and Videos

Project 2,996: Remembering The Victims of 9/11

 ”…9/11/09 will mark 8 years since the attacks of Word Trace Center I and II, The Pentagon, Shanksville, American Airlines Flights 11 & 77, and United Airlines Flight 93 & 175.

On that day 2,996 people were ripped from their lives. But as the media and society tend to do, they have focused on the killers. We’ve all learned more about them than we wanted to. On that day many of us made a pledge to never forget what happened.

The bloggers listed below are trying to keep that promise by learning about the people who died that day. Use the list below to visit their sites and read about the people they have chosen to remember. …”

http://project2996.wordpress.com/

Firefighter’s family learns to keep going

“She has always been strong and able to handle a large family,” said Holler, who was Halloran’s roommate at Ohio University and who is also married to a firefighter. “She has gotten great strength from her family and is trying to create new traditions that honor the wonderful memory of Vinnie. She keeps things moving along.”

http://www.lohud.com/article/20060911/SPECIAL01/609110345

Lt. Vincent Gerard Halloran

http://e.a.cnn.net/SPECIALS/2001/memorial/people/2225.html

 Lieutenant Vincent G. Halloran Street

“…The street sign at North Moore and Varick now reads “Lieutenant Vincent G. Halloran Street”—newly named for the Ladder 8 firefighter who died in the World Trade Center collapse.

Halloran, who was 43 and a 20-year veteran of the fire department, led Ladder 8 into the north tower on Sept. 11.

“When the order came for Ladder 8 to get out of the building, he was on the 30th floor,” said Lt. Larry Mack. “Ladder 8 made it out, but he probably stopped to help someone.” It was a tragic “last act of compassion” for a man known around the firehouse as someone who would go the extra mile, even for a stranger, Mack said.

The sign was the first co-naming of a street in Lower Manhattan for a victim of the terrorist attack….”

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sheenachi/3270140277/

911 Firefighter Heroes

by Kevin Caruso

“We lost 343 firefighter heroes on September 11, 2001.

We thank them, remember them, and honor them for their courage, strength, and commitment.

These outstanding heroes pledged to and serve us; and they did so with great courage and honor on 911.

These firefighter angels are now in Heaven.

When the Twin Towers were on fire and people were fleeing to safety, our hero firefighters ran TO the fire.

That is what heroes do…they run to danger in order to help us.

And there was no hesitation on the part of these heroes from the New York Fire Department; NYFD firefighters are among the greatest firefighters in the world.

The entire nation is still in awe of what these heroes did for us on 911.

Their sacrifice is immeasurable.

Just mention “New York Fire Department” to people and you will see the respect and love that exists for these great heroes.

America is very proud of these heroes.

We miss them.

We love them.

And we will never forget them. …”

http://www.firefighterheroes.com/911-firefighter-heroes.html

Always Remember..Never forget

http://www.sconfire.com/FDNY-Memorial.htm

New York City Fire Department

“…The FDNY lost 340 uniformed firefighters, two retired members, the chaplain, and two paramedics. One member of the New York City Fire Patrol was killed. There were 75 firehouses in which at least one member was killed. …”

“…Lieutenants

46 lieutenants were killed.

• Brian G. Ahearn, 43, Engine 230
• Gregg Arthur Atlas, 44, Engine 10
• Steven Bates, 42, Engine 235
• Carl John Bedigian, 35, Engine 214
• John A. Crisci, 48, Haz-Mat 1
• Edward A. D’Atri, 38, Squad 1
• Andrew Desperito, 43, Engine 1
• Kevin W. Donnelly, 43, Ladder 3
• Kevin Dowdell, 46, Rescue 4
• Michael Esposito, 41, Squad 1 (posthumous Captain)
• Michael N. Fodor, 53, Squad 1
• Peter L. Freund, 45, Engine 55
• Charles William Garbarini, 44, Battalion 9
• Vincent Francis Giammona, 40, Ladder 5 (posthumous Captain)
• John F. Ginley, 37, Engine 40
• Geoffrey E. Guja, 49, Battalion 43
• Joseph Gullickson, 37, Ladder 101
• Vincent Gerard Halloran, 43, Ladder 8
• Harvey Harrell, 49, Rescue 5
• Stephen G. Harrell, 44, Battalion 7
• Michael K. Healey, 42, Squad 41
• Timothy Higgins, 43, Special Operations
• Anthony Jovic, 39, Battalion 47
• Ronald T. Kerwin, 42, Squad 288
• Joseph Gerard Leavey, 45, Ladder 15
• Charles Joseph Margiotta, 44, Battalion 22
• Peter C. Martin, 43, Rescue 2
• Paul Richard Martini 37, Engine 201
• William E. McGinn, 43, Squad 18 (posthumous Captain)
• Paul Thomas Mitchell, 46, Battalion 1
• Dennis Mojica, 50, Rescue 1
• Raymond E. Murphy, 46, Ladder 16
• Robert B. Nagel, 55, Engine 58
• Daniel O’Callaghan, 42, Ladder 4
• Thomas O’Hagan, 43, Battalion 4
• Glenn C. Perry, 41, Ladder 25
• Philip Scott Petti, 43, Battalion 7
• Kevin Pfeifer, 42, Engine 33
• Kenneth Phelan, 41, Engine 217
• Michael Quilty, 42, Ladder 11
• Robert M. Regan, 48, Ladder 118, ID’ed 1/1/2002, son Brendan, wife Donna
• Michael Thomas Russo, Sr., 44, Special Operations
• Christopher P. Sullivan, 39, Ladder 111
• Robert Francis Wallace, 43, Engine 205
• Michael Warchola, 51, Ladder 5
• Glenn E. Wilkenson, 46, Engine 238  …”

http://www.sep11memories.org/wiki/New_York_City_Fire_Department

Memorial Honorees

The following 111 Westchester citizens lost their lives as a result of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

William F. Abrahamson
Kazuhiro Anai
Sharon Balkcom
Yelena Belilovsky
George Bishop
Michael A. Boccardi
Michelle Renee Bratton
Thomas M. Brennan
Jonathan Eric Briley
Mark A. Brisman
Lloyd Brown
Ronald Paul Bucca
Thomas Daniel Burke
Mary T. Caulfield
Alex F. Ciccone
Helen Crossin-Kittle
Joan McConnell Cullinan
Patrick W. Danahy
Dwight Donald Darcy
Simon Dedvukaj
Simon Suleman
Ali Kassamali Dhanani
John J. Doherty
Paul M. Fiori
Thomas Fitzpatrick
Kevin Joseph Frawley
Alan Wayne Friedlander
John Patrick Gallagher
Lt. Charles William Garbarini
Peter Gelinas
Kieran Gorman
Yugi Goya
Gary Robert Haag
Richard Hall
Lt. Vincent Gerard Halloran
Nobuhiro Hayatsu
William Ward Haynes
Katsuyuki Hirai
Thomas Warren Hohlweck, Jr.
Montgomery McCullough Hord
Louis S. Inghilterra
Ariel Louis Jacobs
Arthur Joseph Jones III
Douglas G. Karpiloff
Satoshi Kikuchihara
Takashi Kinoshita
Glenn Davis Kirwin
Richard J. Klares
Gary Edward Koecheler
Vanessa Langer
Denis F. Lavelle
Lt. Joseph Gerard Leavey
Michael Lepore
Richard Dennis Lynch, Jr.
Michael J. Lyons
Katie Marie McCloskey
John Thomas McErlean
Francis Noel McGuinn
Michael Edward McHugh, Jr.
Barry J. McKeon
Robert C. McLaughlin, Jr.
Christopher D. Mello
Yamel Merino
William G. Minardi
Krishna Moorthy
George Morell
Dennis G. Moroney
Takuya Nakamura
Soichi Numata
James A. Oakley
Diana J. O’Connor
Amy O’Doherty
Marni Pont O’Doherty
Samuel Oitice
Sean Gordon Corbett O’Neill
Christopher Orgielewicz
Michael B. Packer
Thomas Anthony Palazzo
James N. Pappageorge
William Howard Pohlmann
Hemanth Kumar Puttur
Valsa Raju
John Armand Reo
Joseph R. Riverso
Gregory E. Rodriguez
Edward Ryan
Tatiana Ryjova
Samuel R. Salvo, Jr.
Eric Sand
Robert L. Scandole, Jr.
Marisa DiNardo Schorpp
Daniel James Shea
Joseph Patrick Shea
Thomas Shubert
Allan Shwartzstein
David Silver
Thomas Sinton III
Rochelle Monique Snell
Robert Speisman
Joseph P. Spor
Timothy Stout
John F. Swaine
Sean Patrick Tallon
Michael Andrew Tamuccio
Kenichiro Tanaka
Joanna Vidal
Jeffrey Patrick Walz
Timothy Matthew Welty
William J. Wik
Marc Scott Zeplin
Ivelin Ziminski
Joseph J. Zuccala

http://www.friendsofwestchesterparks.com/TheRising/Honorees.htm

“The Rising”
Westchester County’s September 11th Memorial

http://www.friendsofwestchesterparks.com/TheRising.htm

Bloggers needed for 2,996 Project

By Michelle Malkin 

“…Longtime readers will remember the wonderful 2,996 Project honoring the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks. The project is gearing up for this year’s event and needs your help.

Katie Favazza is helping spread the word. Please click here to sign up, participate, and spread the word. …”

http://michellemalkin.com/2009/08/03/bloggers-needed-for-2996-project/

 

Project 2,996: Honoring John J. Chada

By Michelle Malkin  •  September 11, 2009 07:51 AM

“…I am participating in Project 2,996, the blogosphere’s tribute to those murdered on 9/11 eight years ago today.

My honoree is John J. Chada. He was 55 and a civilian employee for the U.S. Army. Chada lived in Manassas, Va., and was killed at the Pentagon. He worked in the Information Management Support Center as Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army. He is survived by his wife.

The Virginia House of Delegates honored him with a resolution in 2002:

Celebrating the life of John J. Chada.

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 7, 2002
Agreed to by the Senate, February 14, 2002

WHEREAS, on September 11, 2001, terrorists launched a violent attack on the United States, causing great destruction and horrible human suffering in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania; and

WHEREAS, the attack had a devastating effect in Virginia, home of the Pentagon and of many of the personnel, military and civilian, who served there; and

WHEREAS, among the victims of the Pentagon attack was John J. Chada of Manassas, an administrative assistant for the Department of Defense Information Management Support Center; and

WHEREAS, retired from the United States Army, John Chada served two tours of duty in Vietnam, and during his long military career served in both the United States Army and the United States Navy; and

WHEREAS, a devoted family man, John Chada was a longtime member of the Moose Lodge in Manassas, which he served as president, governor, junior governor, and many other offices; and

WHEREAS, a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, John Chada was a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and was a member of the American Legion; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly note with sadness the loss of John J. Chada, a victim of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of John J. Chada as an expression of the heartfelt condolences of the General Assembly of Virginia.

We will never forget.

…”

http://michellemalkin.com/2009/09/11/project-2996-honoring-john-j-chada/

 

Bring People Together: Project 2,996

http://channel9.msdn.com/forums/Coffeehouse/490618-Bring-People-Together-Project-2996/

 

9/11 Memorial Service for Firefighters

 

 Hayley Westenra – Danny Boy

 

Hayley Westenra – Amazing Grace (With Lyrics)

 

 

 

Related Posts On Pronk Palisades

Remembering September 11, 2001

Remembering September 11, 2001–Duty, Honor, Country–Your Rallying Point

Remembering September 11, 2001 On The Eighth Anniversary

Project 2996–Remembering A Life Ended On 9/11 With A Post On Your Blog Or Web Site–Call For Volunteers

Judy Collins–Videos

The Voice of An Angel–Hayley Westenra–Videos

Pretty Boy Floyd no llegó a ser el nuevo Poison

En el mundo del rock hay bandas que en un tiempo nos hicieron vibrar y que incluso pensábamos que podrían llegar a ser legendarios, ya que mostraban gran calidad en su música y su imagen iba acorde a su propuesta, pero algo pasó que no pudieron cuajar y se quedaron en el camino, terminando sus destinos en el olvido, aunque siempre habrá algunos fans que conserven sus discos con nostalgia.

Estos son algunos ejemplos:

Faster Pussycat: Realmente brillaban, su vocalista Taime Downe con su pelo rubio y sus lentes oscuros con ese labial rojo que nunca le faltaba, emocionó a muchísma gente en los famosos clubes Roxy o Cathouse en Los Angeles. Luego llegaron a las masas y al Top Ten con su power ballad “House of Pain”.

Le abrieron a bandas  reconocidas como Aerosmith o Kiss. Tenían un hard-rock potente, y cuando todos pensaban que darían el paso a convertirse en la banda que competiría contra  Guns N’ Roses, simplemente ya no pasó nada, llegó el grunge con Nirvana y casi desaparecieron.  Aún en la actualidad disfruto sus discos, sus canciones y Downe sigue activo, aunque él es el único integrante original de Faster Pussycat.

Faith No More: Fueron los primeros en rapear descaradamente en una canción de metal, recordemos que esto ya lo había hecho gente como Blondie en el rock, aunque en ese tiempo todo quedó como una demostración de la cultura negra hecha por blancos.

Esta banda prometía seguir desarrollando este innovador estilo, pero no fue así, y al no darnos otro  hit rapeado como “Epic”, fueron casi olvidados. En los 90’s bandas del Nü metal tomaron el estilo y lo llevaron a su máximo nivel. Actualmente Faith No More se encuentra en pleno proceso de reencuentro, esperemos que tengan éxito.

Kingdom Come: Hicieron mucho ruido cuando debutaron, principalmente porque su cantante parecía un clon de Robert Plant de Led Zeppelin, por su voz.

Los críticos no tuvieron compasión contra ellos por esta similitud, mientras llegaban a las listas e interesaban a muchos fans con su música, sin embargo su estilo tan influenciado por Jimmy Page provocó que el interés que habían provocado al inicio terminara para siempre. 

Georgia Satellites:  Su hit “Keep your hands to yourself”, fue un gran suceso, llegando a estar en el número 2 del hit parade, sólo quedando atrás de “Livin’ on a prayer” de Bon Jovi.

Recuerdo todavía haberlos visto muy contentos en una premiación de música y ser considerados favoritos, (eso fue en 1987), luego ya no supe de ellos. Su rock que sonaba tan honesto y prometedor para más discos clásicos, pero todo quedó reducido a casi nada.

Go Go Dolls: Cuando Go Go Dolls sacó “Iris” el soundtrack de la película “City of Angels”, realmente parecía  que este trío había llegado para revivir una nueva etapa de las power ballads. Su canción tenía fuerza, arreglos dramáticos y un requinto nada complicado pero tocado con mucho sentimiento.

Los Go Go Dolls ya llevaban tiempo intentando brillar en el ambiente musical, incluso tocando metal, y fue  hasta que hicieron la balada “Iris” que en 1998 pudieron ubicarse en los primeros lugares, pero ya no pudieron repetir la fórmula, la musa jamás volvió a inspirarlos, y aunque siguen activos, su  música es sólo para sus fans y  las masas los olvidaron.

Cinderella: En los 80’s reinaban en el hard-rock bandas como Bon Jovi, Poison, Mötley Crüe, Guns N’ Roses  y tanto fans como críticos esperábamos que Cinderella tomara también el trono y nadie los bajara de ahí, ya que habían sacado varios hits y discos muy buenos, pero sin llegar a ser un suceso como las otras bandas mencionadas.

Hicieron un último intento con la hermosa balada “Heartbreak Station”, pero no pudieron competir con el monstruo en que se había convertido Guns N’ Roses y menos con el ritmo letal que había inventado Nirvana, la historia ya la conocen, el glam desapareció cuando el grunge explotó.

Nitro: Tenían todo para dominar el heavy metal, un guitarrista veloz  como Michael Angelo Batio que tenía una extravagante guitarra de cuatro brazos y podía realizar sus digitaciones con las dos manos al mismo tiempo y un cantante con unos agudos impresionantes como Jim Gillette, así que sólo era cosa de tiempo para esperar su dominio mundial.

A pesar de que tenían gran reputación como músicos, el éxito nunca llegó y todo quedó en buenas críticas técnicas sobre su desempeño vocal y guitarrístico. Simplemente no pasó nada, y jamás se convirtieron en megaestrellas.

Vinnie Vincent Invasion: El guitarrista Vinnie Vincent había salido de la exitosa banda Kiss, donde realizó varias composiciones de peso junto a Gene Simmons y Paul Stanley, por lo tanto su proyecto musical era esperado con mucha expectativa.

Reclutó a grandes músicos y comenzó su aventura para demostrar que podría trascender en el mundo del hard-rock, pero las ventas de platino nunca llegaron, le fue mejor a los músicos que trabajaron con Vinnie, ya que Mark Slaughter formó una banda con su apellido y tuvieron algunos hits, antes de que el grunge también los sepultara.

Mr. Big: Esta banda llegó a tener un éxito decente, pero los críticos no esperaban que hicieran power ballads, que fue lo que realmente trascendió de ellos, todos esperaban grandes obras, como lo hizo Deep Purple o Led Zeppelin.

Y para tener en sus filas a gente virtuosa como el guitarrista Paul Gilbert o el bajista Billy Sheehan, se esperaba algo más que buen rock, las expectativas eran que se convirtieran  en un súper grupo, cosa que no sucedió y terminaron sólo gustando en Japón, donde este 2009 regresaron para hacer una minigira en ese país.

Pretty Boy Floyd: Cuando debutaron en el mundo de la música, todos pensaban que eran los nuevos Poison, y ellos se encargaban de presumir que llegarían más lejos que la banda comandada por Bret Michaels.

Sin mucho batallar, lograron un contrato con MCA records, y comenzó una gran campaña de publicidad donde su imagen era portada de varias revistas, pero la realidad es que su calidad musical no estaba a la altura de lo que otras bandas aportaban . Sólo quedaron como lo que fueron, una promesa pero basada en la publicidad.

Dokken: Esta banda norteamericana de hard-rock pudo haber superado a muchos de sus contemporáneos y estaríamos hablando de un súper grupo al estilo Bon Jovi, pero las cosas no fueron así.

Ni la virtuosidad de George Lynch en la guitarra y la voz melódica de Don Dokken pudieron dar ese disco de la consagración, algo similar a lo que pasó con Cinderella.

Desilusionados se retiraron algún tiempo de la escena musical, y hace algunos años el vocalista volvió a conformar la banda, aunque sin la alineación original. Aún existen fans que los siguen, pero siempre con ese pensamiento de que pudieron llegar más lejos.

Neón: En México en los años 80’s durante la explosión del rock en español surgieron bandas de todo tipo, y una de ellas fue Neón, que en sólo dos discos dejó para la posteridad temazos como “Juegos de amor”, y “No hay nada eterno”, donde llegaron a mostrar un estilo avanzado a su época, pero sin perder su toque comercial.

A pesar de que actualmente serían una leyenda como los mexicanos Caifanes o el Tri, se retiraron de la escena musical, sin que los fans pudieran siquiera identificar a sus miembros. Actualmente son un grupo de culto, pero sus producciones ya no están en el mercado, sin embargo, muchos que vivimos el rock en español a finales de los 80’s, vibramos y seguimos emocionándonos con ese coro tan rico de “Juegos de amor”:  ”Pa pa reo – Pa pa uereo – Pa pare crita – ea”.

As many of us know, the release date for “BP3″ has been pushed up (to combat bootlegging/leaks, thanks Timbaland) to Tuesday, September 8th aka TOMORROW! Nonetheless, 10 Albums in 10 Days will continue it’s stride to the original release date and 8 year anniversary of the original, Friday September 11th.

So, I guess that brings us to the album in question and the 9th studio solo album for Jay, “Kingdom Come”. Ahh yes, the comeback record, the public & formal announcement to the world that the greatest to ever do it has officially returned to the booth, a place he technically never left.

At first, I had very high hopes for this album and after the first few listens, I was disappointed. I found the album to be lacking that certain punch that all of Jay’s albums had, it’s not that production was bad or something was off with him personally, it was just missing something… Or so I thought.

After selling over 680,000 copies during it’s first week and becoming his 9th straight #1 album, this album would ideally be considered his most prolific commercial success, but I don’t know anyone who feels that way. When I re-visited this CD yesterday, I found myself listening with a more open mind, more mature ears and I was genuinely enjoying the majority of the album.

The “Super Fly” sampled intro gives listeners a glimpse at the current mindstate and lifestyle of a man we all thought we knew so well. Shawn Carter had matured from a street corner hustler to state-to-state weight pusher to hungry rap artist to CEO to multi-platinum artist to CEO & Multi-Platinum artist to business mogul. At this point forward, we should’ve all known Jay was so far removed from “Streets is Watching”, “Money, Cash, Hoes” and even “Big Pimpin” that the authenticity of his music could no longer reflect old habits/lifestyles.

“Oh My God”, “Kingdom Come” & “Show Me What You Got” are 3 Just Blaze beats that really set the tone off nicely, I’ll be the first to admit, none of these 3 come to mind when I think of my fav Jay/Justin Blaze tracks, but they are dope nonetheless. It’s hard for me to technically or articulately explain why Just is so dope, but his beats always are high impact, you know what I mean? Drums are nice, bass is cool, samples are always top notch and the horns/keys are always epic. Maybe that’s it! The horns/keys are always amazing!

The next 3 beats are by Dr. Dre, Kanye & then Dre again, not too shabby, eh! The album definitely takes a slow down with the Chrisette Michele assisted “Lost One”, which is a really personal track where SC airs out Dame Dash, his relationship difficulties with Beyonce and the death of his nephew. Many times, people associate the word “slow” with “bad” or not good, because they are forced to believe “fast” = better, but (luckily) I don’t always subscribe to the “Ricky Bobby” train of thought. I like this joint, although I can’t pretend I’m not somewhat disappointed with the lack of energy on the track, I can tell you that I am glad that he was able to convey such powerful and personal messages on a pretty chill instrumental.

The end of the album is not as good as the first half, but I definitely think “Trouble” and “Dig A Hole” are amazing joints and let’s be honest, they are the closest thing we’re ever going to get to “Takeover” ever again, I think?

“Singer Rob called the police on me, then yall ran out and copped the cd/ See, what I discovered is yall some snitch lovers, I might speak, but I don’t fuck with no-body”

That’s my favourite line from “Trouble”, it’s basically a jab at R. Kelly and I think it’s so true, not to mention, hilarious! Do we all remember when Ty Ty sprayed Kells with pepper spray and then Kells filed that ridiculous lawsuit? “Dig A Hole” gets a little more subliminal, but we know who was the target on this particular joint, for the most part. After years of being huge Jay fans, Cam’Ron & Jim Jones decided they would turn Judas and spite their rap God by calling his name in vein and trying desperately to get his attention. Years later, it worked… Kinda. Although never mentioning anyone by name, the track has painfully obvious jabs and references, such as:

You know what? There are too many quotables, so I’ll just post up some key lines.

Niggas like, “Hov, why don’t you get at Oh boy?”
Why kill a puppet and leave Geppetto alive?
Why not wait to catch them all together?
That’s why you dig one big hole, one time

Translation: “Oh Boy” = Cam’Ron (his comeback single and biggest song “Oh Boy” is a direct reference)

“Why kill a puppet and leave Geppetto alive?” = Jim Jones is Cam’s puppet, this is a Pinocchio reference

“Why not wait to catch them all together, that’s why you dig one big hole, one time” = “Them” is Dip Set

He sellin them lil tools, only time you went plat
My chain was on your neck, that’s a natural fact
Niggas throwin Roc signs outside of your Coupe

“He sellin them lil tools, only time you went plat/ My chain was on your neck, that’s a natural fact” = Cam’Ron’s “Come Home With Me” is his only platinum album and it was released on Roc-A-Fella records and we all know each signee on Roc had that infamous chain (And we all know, Jay was CEO/Owner)

“Niggas throwin Roc signs outside of your Coupe” = Cam was shot at while sitting in his blue Lamborghini and claims that the assailants “threw up the Roc (Diamond) sign” before shots were fired.

PS. That is 100% snitchin’ Mr. Giles! Remember that borderline hilarous interview Cam did with Anderson Cooper? Watch it, here!

Anyway, I found out that I enjoy the album a lot, except for 2 songs: “Anything” (prod. The Neptunes) and “Hollywood” (prod. Syience) It’s a really rare miss for Jay/Pharell and what makes it even worse is that Usher is featured on this song as well! As for the duet with Beyonce that is “Hollywood”, I feel like it was kinda cheesy, although I believe it is 100% reality for the two, I still don’t like the joint.

2 tracks out of 14 isn’t bad at all, in fact that’s pretty good isn’t it?! I will conclude this review by saying that “Kingdom Come”, much like every other Jay release, is years ahead of it’s time. It took years for people to catch on to what Jay was saying on “Reasonable Doubt” and I feel that although this is far from his strongest album, I know it will still take some maturing for some listeners to truly appreciate this one.

]]> http://mildmanneredcast.wordpress.com/2009/09/06/episode-20-thy-podcast-come/ Mon, 07 Sep 2009 03:51:49 +0000 bluedefender88 http://mildmanneredcast.wordpress.com/2009/09/06/episode-20-thy-podcast-come/

Can you believe it? The Podcast has reached its 20th episode and going strong! On this special episode, the boys are at odds when their opinions and debates over Mark Waid and Alex Ross’s Elseworld’s epic, Kingdom Come, clash! Also, the recent purchase of Marvel by Disney is looked at half-full AND half-empty. Not to mention the news flash from Alex about the fate of  the super male-bonding trade series, Marvel Bromance! Masterpiece Comic-Book Theatre delivers its newest installment from Dan Slott’s She-Hulk!

BUT WAIT! We also got to talk to both Dennis Calero, artist for such great books as X-Men Noir and Sliders, and Jordan D White, assistant editor at Marvel Comics on The Incredible Hercules (not to mention the brains behind Age of the Sentry!). You can catch some of the best parts of the interview in this episode, and be sure to check back later in the week for the full 90-minute extravaganza of fascinating conversation with two super classy industry insiders.

Download and Enjoy it Here!

I was recently asked what I would want to teach for a college class, if given the chance, by a friend of mine out of the blue.

“I guess,” I said, “if given free reign…”

Taking an idea out of Mr. McCloud's playbook...

“You’re given complete and total control, like,

tenure +10″

“‘Probably comic books.”

“Oh, awesome. What would be on the reading list?”

“What would be on the reading list?” I asked myself this very question for the next few days, nagging the hell out of my subconscious on every occasion. I knew that I didn’t want the reading list to be made up entirely of Superhero books and at the same time I didn’t want to single out Graphic Novels as the only “poignant” storytelling method for comic book writers since many one-shots in comics have helped to be as influential on the genre as a whole as well.

I would want the students in the class to read ten mandatory books that would guide my lectures and pick six books from a possible list of 16 for essay responses and a final paper at the end of the semester. It seems like a lot of reading, I know, but most of the books on the list barely break 100 pages. So really its just as much reading, and expenses, as any other literature class at a four-year college.

After careful consideration and thought, I thought the fictional “reading list” for a fictional class would go as follows after the cut:

These Ten Books/Stories MUST be read for class:

Understanding Comics- Scott McCloud

Superman, “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?”- Alan Moore

Showcase Presents: Superman Vol.1

EC Comics: Tales from the Crypt Vol.1

Essential Spiderman Vol.1

Zap Comix #7 (really any of the re-prints of the originals are fine)

Our Cancer Year- Harvey Pekar

Watchmen- Alan Moore

Maus I &II- Art Speigelman

The Dark Knight Returns- Frank Miller

Pick six of the 16  Books/Stories on this list for Essays and your Final Paper:

Blankets- Craig Thompson

Love and Rockets Vol. 1- Jamie Hernandez

Green Lantern #85-86, “Snowbirds Don’t Fly”/”More Deadly than the Atom Bomb”- Dennis O’Neal

Well when you name your sidekick "Speedy" Green Arrow...

Green Lantern/Green Arrow Vol.1

Superman: Red Son- Mark Millar

Kingdom Come- Mark Waid

Doom Patrol Vol. 1- Grant Morrison

Transmetropolitan Vol.1- Warren Ellis

Planetary Vol.1- Warren Ellis

Astonishing X-Men Vol.1: Gifted- Joss Wheadon

Spiderman: Blue- Jeph Loeb

Sin City- Frank Miller

Ghost World- Daniel Clowes

Madman: The Oddity Odyssey- Mike Allred

Doctor 13: Architecture and Morality- Brian Azzarello

Marvels- Kurt Busiek

By Keith Giffen (writer), Howard Porter (artist), John Dell (inks)

The Story: A quick 1-page summary of Magog’s origin opens the book, but segues into a gruesome splash page that opens the book with a bang in Sudan. Magog is tracking illicit meta-tech that’s being used for nefarious ends. A mystery is in play. When he calls for Green Lantern (Alan Scott), he appears quick enough that Magog realizes he’s being kept on a pretty short leash by the JSA. Roots of a fracture begin appear…

What’s Good: Giffen, a long-time comic veteran, starts big with Magog in Sudan and keeps the tension rising. Some readers who don’t know much about Sudan might consider some of the gory images a bit over the top. The fact that some of this stuff is really happening in Sudan gave this opening sequence an added resonance.

Giffen also opened an interesting pandora’s box. Magog editorializes about how superheroes do not involve themselves in foreign situations. The logical inconsistency is as old as superheroes themselves. If you had the power of Superman, why not go stop the holocaust? Sudan is a very clear, modern example of a genocide no superhero is taking on, except Magog. Cool theme. I look forward to seeing where Giffen takes it, because he posed the question, but certainly didn’t answer it.

What’s Not So Good: Magog as a character is not very original or interesting. He’s just the Wolverine, Rambo, Punisher (take your pick) cliche, just in a different set of tights. He’s a lethal, sardonic, grim avenger we’ve all seen before. This isn’t Giffen’s fault, but he’s stuck with Magog now, so he’s going to have to figure out soon what makes him worth watching instead of any of the other clones out there. There are signs that Giffen is moving that way, but it will take time to see if the promise pays off.

In the exposition, we need to understand that Magog is brutal, but the level of violence he delivers in this issue is well into the gratuitous. Many stories have shown brutality without having to resort to slasher imagery. It unfortunately detracts from the quality of the book when something more subtle might have made a better point.

On the art, I’m not sold. It does an adequate job, but the faces and poses were a bit still and even generic (check out the panel with Green Lantern and Magog in the hotel room – they look like twins). Also, the skin tones in Africa bugged me. What on Earth was going on? The severed limbs clearly had caucasian skin, despite the fact that on the next page, the victims are clearly African. The skin tones of the brutal oppressors were also white, but with vaguely Asiatic features. That didn’t make a lot of sense, considering the Janjaweed of Sudan are also black. Given the courage Giffen had in locating the opening scene in the brutality of Sudan, I was disappointed that the art team held back on showing it more realistically.

Conclusion: I wasn’t wowed by this book and I can’t recommend it.

Grade: C-

-DS Arsenault