Tons O' Rants - No Raves

1) Crap, as of 1:32pm PST my Final Four only 75% correct. I am a dumb fuck for thinking Texas A&M would get in the Final Four. I only picked them due to an encounter I had while I was in College Station, TX this past September. My friends, Brad and Claire, who recently moved to College Station took me to a Texas A&M Football game while I was visiting. While we were at the stadium waiting for a lighting storm to pass and the game to begin, members of the Texas A&M Basketball team walked through the soaking crowd. All of the old ladies and alumni were salavating and asking them, "are you going to go all the way this year?" A few of them answered, "yes mam'." Well, for some reason, little ol' me remembered those promises and while filling out my brackets said to myself, "sure, why not, if they had so much confidence, then I will pick them." Well here is a widely known fact... people from Texas are LIARS! I swear Texans will lie about anything! They lie about the War and their abilities to make it to the Final Four!

2) I hate myself for liking the new duet by Beyonce and Shakira, titled "Beautiful Liar." I see a theme forming...
Here is the video in all of its dumbass glory. I hate to say it but it has grown on me. I accidently downloaded it from iTunes. I am such a homo.



3) I hate when a song is used in a commercial, which is totally obscure, and then becomes popular. This has just recently happened with the song "Little Bit More" by the most awesome Jamie Lidell. His song is featured in the ad campaign for Target. The other day I was in Starbuck's drive thru and when I came to the window, the song actually came up on my iPod and played. The ditzy girl at the window says "OMG I just love that Target commerical." I wanted to kill her. Is that wrong? Just hand me my 2 pump Venti Large Black Ice-T and be done with it. I don't wanna chit chat with a person who's vocabulary is about 200 words.

4) I hate STARBUCKS and their Tall, Grande, and Venti sizes. God Damnit, it is Small, Medium and Large. I try not to play into their branding! When I ask for a medium whatever it might me, the employees always looked stunned. I can see their wheels spinning... "What is a medium? I need to get a conversion table."

Ordinary Day Video

So I just stumbled across the video for "Ordinary Day" by Dolores O'Riordan. I wonder if she will make a splash in the US? I am sure she will do well in Europe and the rest of the world, but Americans are so fickle.

HAHA

I AM ANNOYED

Consistent with their past behavior, this week our members of Congress in Washington, D.C. displayed a healthy dose of self-importance when day after day they debated and decried the firing of eight federal prosecutors by the Bush administration. Don't get me wrong - the whole thing stinks of the foul odor of a Karl Rove hatchet job. Does anyone really believe this is not the work of Rove? Of course not. Rove and his political handiwork may become as much of the George W. Bush legacy as the invasion of Iraq. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales appears to be Rove's latest pawn. This episode only confirms that Gonzales is simply in over his head - a conclusion drawn by many from the time the man took over as Attorney General.

But the fixation on this debacle - are you kidding me? Give me a break. Yep, it was political. Yep, Rove was the mastermind. And yep, that's how this White House works. Now please move on. We've got some real work to do boys and girls in Washington so please roll up your sleeves and stop this nonsense.

More than 3,200 young men and women have died in what is now a civil war in Iraq and most Americans want our troops out of their now. As in right now. So far the Democrats who promised voters in November they would take action, get right on it, and do whatever it takes to get our troops home have proven just one thing - they're inept and futile when it comes to delivering on their promise. The Democrats are just flat-out not getting it done.

Our cars burn more gasoline now than they did 30 years ago. Americans twist and turn in the wind every time OPEC jacks up the price of oil. Vulnerable doesn't even begin to describe America's position when it comes to energy.

Where's the sense of urgency? How about a bold, new, real energy initiative instead of the usual hype we hear in the annual State of the Union speech? Here's a thought: instead of holding hearings on what lie Karl Rove told or didn't tell or doesn't recall maybe we could hold hearings on how we can most rapidly produce cleaner, greener burning fuels. Just a thought.

Immigration, crumbling schools, a mounting trade deficit, the erosion of good paying jobs for working Americans, global warming and the out-of-whack federal budget. This is all serious stuff. It requires serious, mature and immediate action. You think that'll happen in the halls of Congress or in the White House anytime soon. Probably not. Ya see, they're really busy these days investigating and debating the devious doings of Karl Rove. What a joke. What a waste.

The Song I Can't Get Out of My Head

The song is called "Sleep" and it from Azure Ray.
I can't believe I hadn't heard of this group earlier.
What you people think?

My FAVORITE Album of All Time

Garbage's self-titled debut was a critically hailed triumph. It was a combination of sleek neo-feminism, gothic undertones, and alt-pop rhythms. Vocalist Shirley Manson could do it all -- she was Debbie Harry of Blondie, Dolores O'Riordan of the Cranberries, she was Chrissy Hynde of the Pretenders -- but she was still a leather-clad skanking flirt with a mean growl and a playful attitude. Her familiar yet simultaneously unique personality helped usher in the new era of alt-rock that dominated the late 90s. Despite Manson's in-your-face affectations, their first effort, while remarkable and refreshing, wasn't altogether groundbreaking. After nearly 3 years of intense recording and polishing, Garbage returned with a newer, glossier, and more catty version of their former selves.

Sidelining -- although not totally adbandoning -- their grittier roots was a shrewd choice in the 90s, when a long attention span was hard to find. Garbage is still in all of their glory here -- the insane guitar riffs and acidic lyrics are intact. Here, it's just done better. They take the guitar riffs and skewer them until they're nearly indistinguishable, they take Manson's growl and strecth it out to elastic proportions. Such intense experimentation is usually suicidal -- here, it's more like a steroid shot to an ailing genre. Perhaps the most effective revelation on 2.0 was the full-on implementation of technopop. It's everywhere here -- in between the beats of the punk chorus in "I Think I'm Paranoid," backing the ingeniously distorted guitars of "Push It." Garbage didn't only write the book on crossover alternative pop/rock, they have it memorized and, for all intents and purposes, copywritten.

Garbage is sugared up on romps like "When I Grow Up" and the double-entendre laden "Hammering In My Head" -- they're echoic and icily profound on "The Trick Is To Keep Breathing" and "You Look So Fine" -- they even manage to combine caustic wit and catty come-on with "Sleep Together." Manson and Co. know no limitations when it comes to musical stylings, and this sort of unpredictability is what rock was meant to sound like.

Here is my favorite song of all time from my favorite album of all time------ "You Look So Fine."


Okay, I have decided to post all of the singles from Version 2.0 for all of you who are unfamiliar with Garbage.

"Push It" was the 1st single off of Version 2.0. I effing love this video. It is sick and twisted, just the way I like my Shirley Manson.


"When I Grow Up" was used in the movie Big Daddy, starring Adam Sandler. I for one cannot stand Adam Sandler, so instead of using the video with clips from Big Daddy, here is the second video made for "When I Grow Up." It is a live video, and it rocks.


"The Trick is to Keep Breathing" is another one of my favorite songs of all time. Check out this great performance video.


"Special" is a great homage to the Pretenders and Chrissy Hynde. See if you can figure out why.


"I Think I'm Paranoid" is a great single, and the video is one of my favorites.

A Blast From the Past

I don't know about all of you, but I use to be the biggest Cranberries fan when I was a teenager. As of late, the Cranberries have been on a hiatus. During this self imposed hiatus, Dolores O'Riordan, the lead singer, has been diligently working on a solo effort. On May 8, 2007 her solo album Are You Listening will be released. The lead single for the album is Ordinary Day. I have attached a fan produced video for Ordinary Day. I am really feeling this song, but I may be a tad biased due to the my love for Dolores and the Cranberries. I have attached some recent publicity photos of Dolores. I am amazed with how well Dolores has aged. As Tyra would say, "She looks fierce."

My Name is Ryan and I'm a Meth Head

I am suffering from the first, of which I am sure will be many, sinus headaches. I suffer from severe allergies and now that the spring has sprung I am starting to feel the wrath that is MOTHER NATURE. She sure can be a fucking bitch. So I drive to the drug store for some Actifed: Cold and Allergy. I go to the cold and allergy section of Long's Drug Store and it says that I have to go to the Pharmacist and obtain the Actifed from them. Why make cold and allergy sufferers, well, suffer? Because pseudoephedrine is a key ingredient in crystal meth. Apparently people are buying up crates full of these OTC medications to make meth at home. Thanks to all of the meth heads in the USA, I am now treated like a criminal when I have to purchase allergy medication. In California, drug stores have to keep the allergy medications behind the counter due to the increased theft of these medications. When I bought the medication, I was only allowed to buy 1 box and I had to sign a something that goes supposedly goes into a registry. I guess that they monitor how much allergy medication people are purchasing. After all the hoops I had to jump through, I finally was able to get a little relief. While driving home from the drug store, the AM news station in Sacramento ran a story on the upcoming allergy season. Sacramento has been ranked the nation’s third worst city for allergies by various pharmaceutical companies.



Here is a beautiful picture of a rose from my backyard. I know that Diane and LA are flower people, so if you gals know the type of rose this is, please let a brotha know. Even looking at this picture makes me wanna sneeze. Psychosomatic much Ryan?

"The Neighbor" - Dixie Chicks

Here is a great live version of "The Neighbor" performed on Austin City Limits by Dixie Chicks. They wrote and recorded this song for "Shut Up and Sing." This is a great follow up to "Not Ready to Make Nice." Like Natalie says, "I'll still be here."



"The Neighbor"

Don’t let them tell you what it’s all about
I’m right beside you, a dreamer you can do without
I know you well, but we’ve never met
Always the same, always the safe bet.

I know what’s happening, I’ve seen it before
Uninvited, I’ll be coming to your back door
Lock all your windows, hide under your bed
I hear you breathing, I know you’re there

You can turn off the light
You can turn off your mind
You can shut me out

But I’ll still be here
I'll still be here
You can turn me off and try to shut me down
But I’ll still be here

You want to see things all the same
Why don’t you see things in color for a change
I’m waiting and listening, trying to walk in your shoes
They walk a straight line, such a straight line

I’ll drop my fences, if you drop your guard
Meet me on the front porch stop hiding in your backyard
Unlock your windows, come out from the bed
Your tv's glowing, I know you're there

You can turn it around
Til you like how it sounds
You can turn me off

But I’ll still be here
I’ll still be here
You can turn me down but I'll just shout it out,
I’ll still be here

Who did away with empathy
How do you love without sympathy
And who will be the one that still believes

It's the powerless who seem to fall
Between the cracks of those who have it all
And who's gonna be the one to speak for me

I’ll still be here
I’ll still be here
(repeats with Martie and Emily harmonies)

I'll still be here
When you like it or not
Oh I’ll be here
(repeats with Martie and Emily harmonies)

Even when you're not
When you think I forgot

Come out in your backyard Monday
Let's meet on your front porch Friday

I’ll still be here
(repeats to fade out)

Mind Fucking