In The Land of Unrealistic Assumptions

Well, as requested, thanks Alix. I hope the people just start pouring in. Actually, in the land of unrealistic assumptions, this will be my last mostly unread post. In the land of realistic assumptions, where we live, it won't be. If for some reason your reading this and don't know me, I'd just like to say hi, I'm Drew. I've been posting for almost a year now, why weren't you all here in the early days?
Sorry.
Well, the bell's about to ring and bring on another day of miserable MEAP. I might be posting later this afternoon, so tune in then, lovely readers!

Death has a Shadow

First, I'd just like to say that the name of this post is meaningless. I wanted to make it sound like an old radio drama, because of how dramatic it is.
Now that that's out of the way, let me get on with my story. It's a tale of drama, suspense, and involves the protagonist being tortured unmercifully. In order to tell this story, you'll need some background info. I can't abide country music. Way back in those days of elementary school, I loved it, but I was weird back then. Heck, I went around asking for DNA samples. Ever since I first heard that darn Rock 'N' Roll music, however, I've been a totally different person. Now all country music sounds the same, and crappy. We get it, you're a dumb hick. You don't have to release an entire album of songs telling us that.
Anyway, this story involves me being forced to listen to country music. As I went to the shooting range with my grandpa like I do every week, he decided to turn on the radio to our local country music station. It's a half-hour to the range, and normally on the way there I like to take a quick nap. But not today. Nope, I had to listen to songs about how the singer is proud to be a redneck, and how much they like to drink. About half way there, I started to go numb in the head. The best possible explanation was the country music was killing me, and I had no way of turning it off. Why???
The first half of the tale ends quite undramatically, because we got to the range shortly before my soul left it's earthly tethers and went on to greener pastures where there was hopefully no country music playing. However, the second half of my story began five hours later.
After we finished shooting, we hopped back into the car to head home. On the way home, he usually talks about how we each shot, and gives pointers on how to improve my shooting. He did the same as usual tonight, except for one thing: he left the music on. Now a mini battle is going on in my head between his useful advice and the dying banshees on the radio. He won, but I had to focus all of my energy not to get distracted by the radio.
Once again it ends lamely, because I got home and put on the Violent Femmes to clean the music out of my system. However, I will carry the scars of hearing that music for the rest of my life. Please, feel free to send money for my rehabilitation. Your donations will help me buy more Rock CD's, and keep the country far away from me.

Mumbling Randomly

Don't you hate it when you want to converse with someone but you can't think of anything good to talk about? That's happening right now. I'd absolutely love to chat with all of you on this blog, but I've got no idea what to talk about. So, unless a bright gem of writing topic pops into my head by the time I finish this sentence, I'm afraid you'll have to live without my brilliant prose for another day.
Well, I must say your quite lucky. By using the word "prose", I got myself thinking about literature. Therefore, you shall all be forced to hear about what I like to read. At the moment, I've been reading a lot of Douglas Adams. Over the summer, I re-read the complete Hitchhikers Guide series, which got me back into the whole mindset required. Upon returning to school, I discovered our library had gotten a few Douglas Adams books per my request. Most of them were Hitchhiker books but one was The Salmon of Doubt, a book compiled after his tragic death. I read it, and realized I needed to read all of his books and not just his most famous ones. One trip to the book store later, I had his two other fiction books, part of the Dirk Gently series. So far, they're quite good.
Well, once again, thanks for tuning in. So long, and thanks for all the fish!

Homecoming: so what?

Well, today I discovered something: most people I associate with each day, and trust in mental stability, are insane. Why else would they want to organize a pep rally that lasts 2 hours and wastes most of my time? Also, as class president, I couldn't just go and sit by my friends like I wanted to. Instead, I was expected to stand down by where the games were and help keep score and set up each game. It would have been just a little better if I was friends with even just one of the other class officers, but I'm not. They're all preps, I'm an unpopular person. I'm quite popular among the unpopular, but that just makes it worse. They kept having me stand on the other side of the gym doing the score, while they went off and gossiped meanly about all my friends (that's a guess).
Whats the big deal about homecoming anyway? All it is is a football game. Sure, I'm going, but that's just to hang out with my friends. i don't care about the game, as long as we win. To be a 100% truthful, I don't really get the rules of football. All the people in my scout troop who occupy senior positions love it, so we ends up playing a lot of it during camp outs. During those times, I just try and listen to what the other people say, and pray I'm not completely embarrassing my self.
Well, I've got to go. Well, I don't have to, but I'm done writing about this subject, and I don't want to start on the next until tomorrow.

Allergies (pt. 2)

Well, the results from the allergy tests are in. It turns out I'm allergic to everything they test for. Quite honestly, I'm not really surprised. Apparently no one has gotten 100% on the allergy testing for a long time, so I'm kind of proud about that. When I took the blood testing, the results showed that I was highly (but not deathly) allergic to milk. I'll keep drinking it, but now I'll worry that I'm slowly killing myself. In fact, the only thing I'm not allergic to is my pet rabbit, Koko.
The net result is I'll have to go in for shots once a week for the rest of my teenage years. Now, when I say shots, I mean the plural noun. I'll be getting two or three vials worth every week.
In other news, I can't find any good blogs on here. I know there has to be some, but they manage to keep out of sight from me. The only blog I'm a fan of is The Dilbert Blog, and Scott Adams (the author) gets really political about elections. Also, I know how it fells to have no followers, so I'd like to brighten up someones day. I only found one cool blog, and it was clearly translated from another language. I'd start reading it, but the font is incredibly tiny. Actually, the more I think of it, the cooler it seems. I think I'll give it another go.
Well, if anyone knows a a good blog, tell me, 'cause I'm looking.

Holla everyone!

Sweet! More people are posting comments on my blog! Sure, I know them all, but it still makes me really happy!
Anyway, this week at school is spirit week. On Monday, we wear cool hats. I'm totally covered there. On Wednesday, we wear Hawaiian stuff. On Thursday, It's Michigan Vs. State, and Friday is school colors day. Now, I know what your all thinking: "Hey Drew, you left Tuesday out!" That's because I'd like to go into greater depth. Tuesday is wacky hair/clash day, and I plan on rocking our school. Now, by clash it means you wear clothes that clash. I'm aware of this, but I instead choose to interpret that as "dress up like The Clash", the famous punk rock band. So, I'll be coming into school that day with a studded belt, tight pants, tight T-shirt, factory boots, the obligatory bandanna tied around my leg, and of course gigantic dark sunglasses. for my hair, I'm straightening it, which will look cooler than the rest of my outfit combined. It's normally curly, and quite long. I've straightened it twice before, and it goes down to the middle of my back. it's pretty freaky.
Anyhoo, thanks again to everyone who posted. It's the little things that get you through the day.

A Lot of Random Thoughts

Hello, lovely readers, thanks for tuning in once again. Oh, and thanks for posting comments on my blog so I can pretend lots of people read this blog and most of them are too lazy to post.
Anyhoo, I just decided to post because I felt like it for no good reason. Well, lets chat a bit about me and guitar playing. My other band members a) don't know how to play either, b) are incredibly annoying, and c) have really stupid idea. The bassist came up with the gems that we should wear masks on stage, which does not seem like something my kind of band would do (that's pretty heavy metal), and that we should play rock band on stage instead of real instruments. OK, for the latter, what the #@$% was he thinking when he came up with that? I want to actually be a successful musician, not an idiot.
By the way, my guitar playing is getting better. I think the whole teach yourself method might actually work, at least for my style of music.
Well, I think I'd better get going, because my thoughts are starting to become harder to discern from the normal overhead going through.
See ya.

Subservient Chicken!

Check this out:

http://www.subservientchicken.com/

I found out about this somewhere around four years ago on a geocaching forum board, and promptly forgot about it. I remembered it the other day after watching a VHI program on the 40 most popular things on the net. I went to the site again, and I was glad to see the same guy standing in his living room, wearing a chicken costume, following your every order.

Apparently, it's a promotional thing for Burger King, but that doesn't change how cool it is. The general idea is that you go to the site and type in a command, and a pre-recorded video of the guy doing what you told him will appear. Obviously, he won't do anything risque, or anything so odd the people filming it wouldn't think to have him do it, but he will do a lot of different things.

Just felt like you all needed to know.

The Joys of Getting a New CD and a Review

Guess what! i just got a new CD through the mail via Amazon. Well, really I got two CD's, but there's only one I really care about. It's called Radio K.A.O.S., and it's by Roger Waters, Pink Floyd's bassist. it's pretty awesome.

The concept is based around a 23-year-old disabled man from Wales named Billy.
Billy is confined to a wheelchair and is thought to be mentally a vegetable. However, Billy is highly intelligent but has no way of expressing himself. Billy has a twin brother Benny who is a coal miner. Billy lives with Benny, Molly his wife, and their children. Unfortunately, Benny has lost his job in the mines due to the "market forces". One night, Benny and Billy are out on a pub crawl when they pass a shop full of TV screens broadcasting Margaret Thatcher's "mocking condescension". Benny vents his anger on this shop and steals a cordless phone. Next, in theatrical fashion, Benny poses on a footbridge in protest to the closures; the same night, a taxi driver is killed by a concrete block dropped from a similar bridge. The police question Benny, who hides the phone in Billy's wheelchair. Benny is taken to prison, and Molly, unable to cope, sends Billy to live with his uncle David in L.A.. Billy is gifted and can hear radio waves in his head, so he begins to explore the cordless phone, recognising its similarity to a radio. He experiments with the phone and is able to access computers and speech synthesisers, he learns to speak through them. He calls a radio station in L.A. named Radio KAOS and tells them of his life story about his brother being in jail, about his sister-in-law not being able to cope and sending him to L.A. to live with his uncle Dave, and about the closures of the mines. Billy eventually hacks in to a military satellite and fools the world in to thinking nuclear ICBMs are about to be detonated at major cities all over the world whilst deactivating the military's power to retaliate. The album concludes with a song about how everyone, in thinking they were about to die, realises that the fear and competitiveness peddled by the mass media is much less important than their love for family and the larger community.

I'd like to say I wrote that summary, but I really just cut and pasted it from Wikipedia. I did this for two reasons. The first is that I would have written the exact same thing, just not as well, and the second is I don't have time to write an entire summary at the moment. I can, however, give you a review of the actual music that's 100 percent my own.

The CD is a very vibrant album, although slightly generic sounding. It's got that electronic 80's techno sound, and is pretty upbeat. I'm not sure if the CD should be as upbeat as it is, but that doesn't mean I like it any less. It uses a lot of dialogue to convey the story, as well as sound effects. It's basically set up as a story being conveyed over by the radio through songs and calls made by Billy (using a voice synthesiser), as well as sound effects that probably aren't actually being broadcast by the station but are thrown in just for your enjoyment. It fits together well, and even if the plot was typed up inside the insert (which annoyed me) you'd be able to get the general idea. I'm not sure why I didn't like the plot being typed up in the insert, because I'd just go on the Internet and find it anyway.

Well, overall I give it a . . .

four out of five

The reason I didn't give it full marks is because the bar is set impossibly high for Roger Waters after he wrote The Wall, and he didn't clear it with this album. However, it's got a good plot and a strong musical back, so I like it anyway.

Good Morning, Mr. President

Guess what? I just got elected class president! I'm the only non-popular person to have been elected this year, so I'm in charge of a meeting of preps. For the past few years, the preps have been getting all the good breaks, because they made up the class officers. This year, those of us who aren't willing to sell emotions for popularity will be getting some good deals because I'll be representing them. I think part of my victory may be the fact I handed out campaign buttons and had good posters, but it could be more than that. I like to think this is the year when popularity will not prevail.

Preps, jocks, and the untouchable popular people annoy me. At summer camp, I was talking to a prep in my troop who said that his group wouldn't hang out with a kid just because he was fat. I now view that person in a totally different light, and not a good one. How conceited can you possibly be? I would rather be universally hated than become that way.

Another Review - The Wall

I know it was more than three months ago that I told you I would review Pink Floyd's The Wall, but I've been busy. Deal with it.

Anyway, I should start this review by stating that this is my favourite CD. I own three different versions of it, as well as the movie and a VHS tape of the live concert. Now, let's get down to business. I like this CD because of the story it tells. It is the perfect example of a concept album, with all of the songs telling the tale of the life of Pink, a fictional character. He is scarred by the loss of his father in the war, the cruelty of his teachers, the over-protectiveness of his mother, and his wife's' cheating on him. To protect himself, he builds a mental wall to keep from getting hurt. After an OD, he starts hallucinating he is a dictator much like the one responsible for his father's death. After getting tired or afraid of that particular idea, he puts on a mental trial for himself to determine whether blocking out those who loved him was justified. After having his teacher, wife, and mother appear to testify against him, the judge of the mental court rules that he was in error, and should tear down the wall. After a short song about how everyone puts up their own version of a wall, the CD ends. Does Pink live happily ever after, go back to his old ways, or even survive the tearing down of the wall? I don't know. I do know, however, that it's not exactly a happy album, so why would it have a happy ending? The next album by Pink Floyd, The Final Cut, may offer some insight. During the song the album's titled after, it has a gunshot sound effect covering up the lyrics, "I'll tell you what's behind the Wall." Did Pink end it all for good? I like to think not.

So , all in all i give this album a...

Five out of five

I think it's pretty awesome, and so do a lot of people.

Allergies

Allergies suck. School just started, and instead of impressing all of my new teachers automatically like I should be, I just give the impression of disease. plus, I accidentally skipped taking my allergy meds for two days, and was riding a four wheeler through the fields near my friend's house while not on the medicine. I suffered for that for about a day, and it sucked. I had to basically sit in a recliner with a damp washcloth on my face all day. I'm getting allergy testing soon, but I'm pretty sure that the testing takes place right at the end of allergy season, so it won't help too much.

A Glimmer Of Hope

Geuss what! I can play the chorus of "Another Brick In The Wall Pt. 2" on my guitar! I went to the guitar store and wasted my money on the sheet music for "The Wall", and immediately felt bad. Well, now look! Yeah I know, that's really not that amazing, but at least it's a step in the right direction. I'm sure I can sing for a band, so that's all good. I've also narrowed down a list of possible names to two choices. Vote on which you like most with the poll.

hey everyone!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I know, I know, you've probably all been bored out of your minds because I haven't posted a tidbit of illustrious knowledge in a long time. Anyway, the reasons I haven't been able to post lately are plentiful.
I'm going into Algerbra 1 This year, and my teacher was kind enough to give us 80 pages of algerbra homework over the summer. I've gotten about 20 done so far. One of my friend's mom wouldn't let her start until August "So it's still fresh in her mind when school starts again." Isn't that crazy?
I've been cramming a summer's worth of vacation's into one month. Starting with boyscout camp, I've been gone every weekend this month except for this one, and I'm having friends over, so it doesn't count. 2 weeks ago it was just for fun camping, Last weekend it was fore the 4-H state shoot*, and labor day weekend it's the same as 2 weeks ago.
My mom has this crazy tradition where I'm not allowed to wear back to school clothes until I go back to school, so I've got this big pile of really rad clothes just sitting there looking unhappily up at me when i get dressed each day.
Well, I've got to run ( OK, ride my bike) over to my grandparent's shop to work for a little moolah, then go to the doctor's office for a check up, then go shooting with my grandpa for four hours. But I'm not stressed. Yet.

*I got a silver medal in muzzle loading and a bronze in skeet, so rock on!!

What's Happening?

Hey, how's it going, sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I'm not going to be able to write at all next week either because I'll be camping. So, I geuss you'll all just have to try and live without my wonderful insights upon life. Just don't cry, because that would make me feel bad. By the way, has anyone ever seen the movie It? I'm reading the book, and I'm curious as to whether the movie's worth seeing. Well, I've got to get going, so see ya later!

The Dark Knight

I went to the midnight showing of this movie, and it was totally worth it. I can't review it very well, because that would involve giving away the plot, so I'll just say this:

six out of five stars

Thats how good it was. DO NOT BRING SMALL CHILDREN!!!! This movie is full of very disturbing crap. Heath Ledger did the best performance I've ever seen, and if he doesn't get the oscar, I'm really interested in who did. The joker was a very deeply disturbed person, and Heath didn't fail to amaze. It is a great shame he died.

My First Movie Review

The movie I'm going to be reviewing is "I'm Not There", the new look at Bob Dylan's life story. First off, this movie is really messed up. If you like movies with a definite plot line, absolutely no deviance from reality, and easy to understand messages, this movie is not for you. I rented it for two days, and I'm pretty sure I'll have to buy it, because it's impossible to get the full message in 2 day's worth of viewings. I don't think I could get the full message if I watched it every day for a year. I can't really talk too much about the plot, because there is none, but the general idea is that his life is told through six people's life experiences, portraying a different aspect of Bob's life. It starts with him dying, which makes no sense, because he's still alive to this day. Each story is in a different time period, but they're all connected in one way or another, be it an actor playing one of the other characters in a movie, or a quick name dropping. Overall, I give this movie a...

five out of five

I must say, it's the kind of movie you'll either proclaim to be an instant classic, or a grand pile of crap. I feel the former, because I enjoy seeing a movie that makes you think in this world of instant gratification. Maybe you will hate it.

So it goes. ( I've been reading a lot of Vonnegut lately)

Guitar Hero Again

Geuss what! I just got Guitar Hero 3 yesterday! I played it for about 3 hours yesterday, and for nearly 7 hours today. I 've already beat it on medium, and I've gotta say, it's pretty awsome. I've got to go, so see ya later!

Happy 4th!

To all my american readers, I'd just like to wish you a happy 4th of July. Yeah, um, that's about it.

Why I feel I should have a blog

When I ask people if they have a blog, they usually respond no, because they don't feel as though they have profound enough thoughts to fill the pages of a blog. I know that I don't have profound thoughts, but I still have one. I think I rationalized that I deserved a blog by thinking of those books that are about a totally normal life, with only ordinary occurrences, that by all means should be boring, but aren't. Maybe that's how this blog is. If not, lets hope it's like Planet Tad from MAD Magazine. Oh, and sorry about not posting a CD review last week.