My Custom Van by Michael Ian Black or: Enjoy This Blog Which I Am Only Able to Write Because of a Generous Grant from the Makers of Barq's Root Beer

A charming collection of essays, Michael Ian Black's book My Custom Van and 50 Other Mind-Blowing Essays hat Will Blow Your Mind All Over Your Face, ranges from stream of consciousness, to series of letters, to plans for the future, to an acceptance speech for a literary award. Somehow, it manages to cover a vast amount of topics and styles without falling flat once. Sure, some essays aren't quite as good as others, but on their own they aren't bad. Being great instead of amazing isn't something to be ashamed of, either. However, just like Michael Ian Black himself, these essays aren't for everyone. I imagine some people would be offended by the gratuitous use of the word fuck in “Taco Party”, or the subject matter of “Why I Used Day-Glo Magic Marker to Color My Dick Yellow”. But I think everyone would enjoy peeking into Billy Joel's head (or at least what Michael Ian Black thinks is in there) as he drives to a party where he knows there will be a piano, or his meditation on salami. One of his essays I thought particularly stood out was one the last ones, which has the cumbersome title of “Chapter 19 Of My Science Fiction Epic, The Pirates Of Dagganon 6, Which I Am Only Able to Write Because of a Generous Grant from the Makers of Barq's Root Beer”. In this part of a story, Michael Ian Black is able to blend a surprisingly interesting sci-fi story about space pirates, with a satirical look at product placement. In chapter 19 of The Pirates of Daggananon 6, Barq's Root Beer is not only featured prominently in an incredibly tacky way, but also is a vital plot device. The carbonation gives the dashing pirate just the inspiration he needs in order to escape from the space fuzz, which we can only hope is indicative of how our hero always gains his inspiration. Ridiculous? Yes. Entertaining? Also yes. Michael Ian Black's book may just be a way to entertain his own fan base, with little regard to anyone else, but it does that well. To sum up how I feel about this book, I'll use the same words the author used to describe his custom van: a million radical. Go to your local bookstore/library/friend who owns this book and then buy/check out/borrow it, then read it.

An Evening with the Nerdcore Crew or: The Best Night Of My Life

So, MC Frontalot, MC Lars, and YTCracker came to town Friday, and I've been excited ever since I heard. I didn't think acts that cool would come to my shitty town, but they did. The show was excellent. Well, the people I came to see were excellent anyway. I had to suffer through an opening act, that was shitty by even terrible rap standards. I didn't come to a nerdcore hiphop show to hear some douchebag stumble lyrically over half-assed beats about weed and sex. I came to hear raps about video games, the internet, and D&D. But hey, it just made the real acts look better. After that act, came YTCracker and MC Lars. This was like 2 sets in one, oddly enough. They started playing YTCracker solo songs, with MC Lars backing him up. They were great on stage together. Always giving each other high fives, getting the crowd into it with chants and singing along, the two MCs constantly thrusting the microphones into the audience, getting us to sing their songs. Maybe a bit narcissistic, sure, but it makes for a good show. Then, the rest of the set was MC Lars' songs as well as songs from his collaborative album with YTCracker. In essence this was the same, but they added videos that Lars had prepared for these songs. OK, Lars, look. You know how to work a crowd, you had us entertained. You did not need to add videos to the equation, man. Maybe in a big venue, but this was a basement of a pizza parlor. You were doing fine. The videos were great, but they did detract a bit from your presence. You interacting with us was way better than the videos, no matter how funny and clever they were. After a short break, the main event took the stage: MC Frontalot. He was, by far, the best showman of the night. He didn't involve the audience as much as his tourmates did, but how could he? I mean, the man was moving in ways I can't describe, let alone emulate! If he was to add chants and get the mike into the audience while doing that, he'd be some sort of god. But he's not, and the dancing was much better. So he made the right choice. His bandmates knew what to do on stage too. Blak Lotus, played a sliding note by rubbing his bass against a beam. The SturGENiUS, the drummer, had the right idea too. His drumming is exactly what I love to hear. Unobtrusive, but when you pay attention you realize it's creative and just excellent. Which is exactly what his stage presence was like. Nothing too fancy, but if you took a look at him, he was always grooving. Just having a real good time. All in all, the show was well worth the money. It would have been worth it at 3 times the amount. At 10 bucks, it felt like I was ripping them off. But it was a great show.

  Most people my age probably do the same thing my friends and I do after a concert: go to Dennys. But this time, it was going to be different. I had an idea. This idea started as half joke, half crazy dream. I was going to ask MC Frontalot to go to Dennys with us. So before the show, as I was buying some merch, I told him we were going to Dennys, and he was invited, our treat. He said he'd check with the band, but he thought they might be pretty tired. I figured he was just brushing us off, but trying not to be a dick about it. Whatever, I figured it was a long shot anyway. I enjoy the show, get my face rocked off, have a lot of fun. After the show, I decide to try again, give him directions to Dennys. He said he might join us after they pack up. Once again, figured he was just brushing us off. We go to Dennys, eat, hang out for about an hour. As we're deciding not to wait any longer, lo and behold, Frontalot and crew come striding through the door. So I got to hang out with MC Frontalot and MC Lars at Dennys. Frontalot did the whole “I'm famous, I don't need to order off the menu” thing, but without being a total ass. Lars was a bit energetic, which was surprising, and it was a bit overwhelming. After they ate, Sam and I shared a cigarette with MC Frontalot, and he told us some Hollywood secrets ( they involved maxi pads), paid the bill and we left. But not before getting a handshake from Lars and a hug from the Front. So far, it was the best night of my life.

The First Real Post or: My 100 Favorite Albums

So I decided to start off with a bang, and post my 100 favorite albums. They aren't any particular order, except for the first few. The rest are just what I'm into now, what I liked when I wrote the list. This will be a living document, so I'll probably go back and edit this now and again, but I wouldn't exactly wait with bated breath. Anway, without further ado, the list:

1.In The Aeroplane Over The Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel
2.Pinkerton – Weezer
3.The Blue Album – Weezer
4.If You're Feeling Sinister – Belle and Sebastian
5.The Queen Is Dead – The Smiths
6.Blueberry Boat – The Fiery Furnaces
7.Illinois – Sufjan Stevens
8.Parklife – Blur
9.The Life Pursuit – Belle and Sebastian
10.Surfer Rosa – The Pixies
11.The Jarvis Cocker Record – Jarvis Cocker
12.Gallowsbird's Bark – The Fiery Furnaces
13.Hello Rockview – Less Than Jake
14.Hello Nasty – The Beastie Boys
15.Broken Social Scene – Broken Social Scene
16.Happy Hollow - Cursive
17.You Forgot It In People – Broken Social Scene
18.Blur - Blur
19.The Sunset Tree – The Mountain Goats
20.Picaresque – The Decemberists
21.Odelay - Beck
22.Tired Of Hanging Around – The Zutons
23.Slanted and Enchanted – Pavement
24.Violent Femmes – Violent Femmes
25.My Aim Is True – Elvis Costello
26.Comfort Eagle - CAKE
27.Apologies To The Queen Mary – Wolf Parade
28.In Our Bedroom After The War – Stars
29.The Crane Wife – The Decemberists
30.Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots – The Flaming Lips
31.White Blood Cells – The White Stripes
32.Daydream Nation – Sonic Youth
33.Face The Truth – Stephen Malkmus
34.Goo – Sonic Youth
35.The Ugly Organ – Cursive
36.It's A Bit Complicated – Art Brut
37.Different Class – Pulp
38.Elliott Smith – Elliott Smith
39.Live It Out – Metric
40.Keasbey Nights – Catch 22
41.Bitter Tea – The Fiery Furnaces
42.Widow City – The Fiery Furnaces
43.The Cat Empire – The Cat Empire
44.Discovery – Daft Punk
45.Demon Days – Gorillaz
46.Who Killed The Zutons?– The Zutons
47.The Electric Version – The New Pornographers
48.None Shall Pass – Aesop Rock
49.Sound of Silver – LCD Soundsystem
50.Secrets From The Future – MC Frontalot
51.Tigermilk – Belle and Sebastian
52.The Moon and Antarctica – Modest Mouse
53.Mass Romantic – The New Pornographers
54.Turn The Radio Off – Reel Big Fish
55.Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco
56.Real Emotional Trash – Stephen Malkmus
57.Under The Blacklight – Rilo Kiley
58.It Means Everything – Save Ferris
59.O – Tilly & The Wall
60.Maladroit – Weezer
61.Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend
62.Heart - Stars
63....Is A Real Boy – Say Anything
64.People's Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm – A Tribe Called Quest
65.Plans – Death Cab For Cutie
66.Castaways and Cutouts – The Decemberists
67.Kill The Moonlight – Spoon
68.Gimme Fiction – Spoon
69.Dear Catastrophe Waitress – Belle and Sebastian
70.Bottoms Of Barrels – Tilly & The Wall
71.The Process of Belief – Bad Religion
72.In Case We Die – Architecture In Helsinki
73.All Hail West Texas – The Mountain Goats
74.Back In Black – AC/DC
75.The Graduate – MC Lars
76.Digital Gangsters – YT Cracker and MC Lars
77.Inside In, Inside Out – The Kooks
78.Made In The Dark – Hot Chip
79.Myth Takes - !!!
80.A Guide To Love, Loss, & Desperation – The Wombats
81.Wheatus -Wheatus
82.Everything Goes Numb – Streetlight Manifesto
83.Broken Boy Soldiers – The Raconteurs
84.De Stijl – The White Stripes
85.Nerdcore Rising – MC Frontalot
86.Bang Bang Rock and Roll – Art Brut
87.Cansei De Ser Sexy - CSS
88.Favourite Worst Nightmare – Arctic Monkeys
89.Let Me Introduce My Friends – I'm From Barcelona
90.Death In The Garden, Blood On The Flowers – Irving
91.Remember That I Love You – Kimya Dawson
92.Versions – Mark Ronson
93.We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank – Modest Mouse
94.Rage Against The Machine– Rage Against The Machine
95.The Great Escape – Blur
96.Broom – Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
97.Renegades – Rage Against The Machine
98.If It Was You – Tegan and Sara
99.Odessey and Oracle – The Zombies
100.Breaking Up – The Research

Welcome to the blog or: Jumping on the bandwagon

Blogging. It seems like everyone's talking about stuff they like, or what happened to them today and they want everyone to know. Everyone who will read that is.  I don't expect anybody to read this, I just want a place to write down my thoughts on stuff that I like, or don't like. When I say stuff, I mean things like movies, music, games, books, etc. Something that I can critique and share my thoughts on. I don't mean things like pizza. Or a sunny day. I'll try to avoid talking about my boring life too, so if you do plan on reading this, don't expect to find out a lot about me. Except for stuff that I like (and don't like). Hopefully my plunge into the blogosphere won't be too  painful, and we all enjoy it. But most importantly, I'll enjoy it.