I MADE YOU A PLAYLIST. BECAUSE I <3 YOU.

An awesome Christmas gift (Zune) made me realize how out of touch I am with my music - and as such, my past. It's been years since I listened to some of the bands and albums that I found when I plugged this bad boy in, and in other cases disks I ripped in response to this device. Because of this, and since it's the season for giving, I give lists. Santa has a few of them, and he doesn't even exist. You deserve some too.

So in alphabetical order of artist, here's the top nine songs on my Zune right now and why you should listen to them if you haven't yet.

"Astronaut: A Short History of Nearly Nothing" by Amanda Palmer
Amanda Palmer is a hero of mine. She is a representation of what it means to love your art more than anything else, making music that is deeply personal while still being enjoyable by a wider audience. This song is one of my favorites from her solo career, even if a first time listener only has a vague idea of what the fuck is happening in it. Beautiful piano work and melodies.

"She's Leaving Home" by The Beatles
If you don't know the Beatles, you should probably consider ritual suicide. This particular song is a lesser known cut from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It's got amazing string work and it tells a sad, touching story about a girl growing up and moving on with her life.

"JENOVA Celestial" by bLiNd
J-E-N-O-V-A is from a Final Fantasy game. The original track was pretty sick for a MIDI song, and this is a nice dance version with a fat bass thump and a solid clutch on the original melody. This one also cuts the repetition of the original song, which is barely noticed when you're getting your ass handed to you by a recurring boss.

"Fa-fa-fa" by Datarock
I had no idea what the hell this was when it came on. At first I thought it was a surprise song from my amazing girlfriend (who is responsible for the Zune in the first place), but she knows nothing of it. I guess Microsoft did something cool on their own. I dig this, even if it's somewhat ADD in its key changes between chorus and verse and shift in genres.

"The Pharaoh Sails to Orion" by Nightwish
A friend of mine introduced Nightwish to me in high school, and I fell in love immediately. Really, I could've picked any song at random from their discography and it would've been equally good. This one, however, has a heavy, thrashy base with a piano melody played to contrast the guitars. The male vocals are obnoxious, and I kind of hate them, but they're very minor in this jam. Usually it's almost entirely a female singer with an operatic voice (or in the new album, a first soprano without any operatic training, but a younger sounding tone). Incidentally, both singers in this song are no longer part of the band. Sadness. Oh, and a very strange quasi-Egyptian breakdown.

"Audience of One" by Rise Against
This song is all personal nostalgia from the singer directed towards someone specific, but it feels like he's singing it to you. It almost makes you want to give him a hug. It's also a coming of age story through song though, and perhaps I'm just a sucker for that kind of crap. The rest of the album/discography/band is awesome, but this one has been striking a chord in me recently. Maybe I'm just getting old, and liking punk that talks about it.

"Know" by System of a Down
Also from high school for me. I had a minor obsession with System of a Down for a long time, in small part because a girlfriend of mine was also obsessed. Even if I didn't date her I'd've loved them though. This song has a powerful drum intro with a crunchy chug to go through the rest of the song. It's a nice representation of what the band's energy really is. It also shows the Middle-Eastern cultural influence in the music a little more than other songs, and it's a nice blend that wouldn't normally be noticed in modern music in the West.

"Poem" by Taproot
I've had a soft spot for Taproot for a long time. I didn't notice that the first album was mostly out of key when I started with them, I just liked the style of writing. On this album they fixed these issues of staying in some kind of tone, and this song is about integrity through creativity. Uplifting without pussing out.

"Ocean Avenue" by Yellowcard
This song is one of the best written pop songs ever. Period. It's the only thing I feel they've ever done right, but it's almost perfect. The album was worth buying for this song, even if the rest of it was disappointing. Still a coming of age narrative, but also a love song with a fantastic hook PLAYED BY A VIOLIN. Beat that. This will always be one of my favorite songs, even if I will otherwise bash the band to hell. They did this one thing that was amazing enough to note, and I will always respect them more than most other one hit wonders.

Why is there no Coheed on this list? Because I love them too much to include them. Four albums worth of music means that this list turns into 7 Coheed songs, "Ocean Ave." and "Astronaut." That wouldn't be fair to anyone else who kicks ass either.

Ten Disney Villains that are Awesome.

In alphabetical order, these are my ten favorite Disney villains from the "Animated Classics."

Chernabog - Fantasia made me very happy when I was a child... except for Night on Bald Mountain. You probably don't recognize the name of this character. He was originally annotated as Satan. He controls restless souls and is enormous. He opens hell and throws them in. His name is even taken from a pagan night god. This is no regular character, and now that I'm old enough not to wet myself when I watch this part, he's my favorite villain.

Cruella de Vil - When your name is derived from "cruel" and "devil," you know you're going to have problems. She must've changed her name legally when she grew up, I'm pretty sure no loving parent would ever name their child "Cruella." However, if my parents named me like this, I'd probably be an evil hag that kills puppies and hates jazz too. The very first time she's referenced reinforces the image: "Oh Pongo, It's that devil woman." 101 Dalmatians had a pretty awesome villain.

Dr. Falicier - The newest BAMF is one of the best, but he's written that way on purpose. Princess and the Frog is all about working hard to get the American dream. Falicier is all about conning others and making debts to get what you want. In a way, he's a mirror for the recent economic collapse. When you take out too many favors from your "friends," eventually they will reclaim what you've taken. Only difference is that this one's voodoo and not cash. Oh, he pulls a Chernabog with his shadows, which is also pretty fucking cool.

Gantu - Lilo and Stitch is one of my favorite Disney movies, but it didn't really have a villain. Stitch was one for a while, but that changed. Jumba Jookiba wasn't really evil, just insane (sometimes bordering on retarded). Gantu is the closest thing to a villain that Lilo and Stitch had, but that's okay. I like that he's just there to be a douche, without really being overbearing. I like that he's only doing his job, even if it is usually unethical. I like that he's the everyman of villainy, like the gang member rather than the Adolf Hitler.

Hades - Suave! Sarcastic! On fire! I hated Hercules for the most part, but I loved the villains. The Hydra is only absent from this list because it dies like a bitch. I wanted Hades to win so badly, based on his charisma entirely. If he wasn't so cool, then I would've hated the movie. He made it not only watchable, but enjoyable. I suppose there are perks to being the god of Death.

Headless Horseman - Long before you were born, Disney took the crap shot and made a series of several completely unrelated sequences lumped together as films. Most of these were somewhat terrible, but two are memorable. The Three Caballeros had no villain, and looking back, really wasn't all that special (just memorable). The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, however, took an American folk story and some other thing that no one cared about, and made a movie. The Headless Horseman has been done many other times in many other ways since, but this is the best version of him. No one cares about his back story, or why he kills people. All that matters is that he's an evil ghost that will royally mess you up if you get too close to his land.

Jafar - Contrary to popular belief, Aladdin's villain might not have been Jafar, but the Genie. However, as Robin Williams is incapable of playing a villain very well, it never really shows. Jonathan Freeman, however, plays a mean motherfucker. He uses hypnosis, dark transformation magic, fire, and an annoying fucking bird named after the best villain of all time. On top of all that, he's so evil that he doesn't need a song to himself (Disney's version of a soliloquy) to explain how evil he is.

Rattigan - You probably didn't watch The Great Mouse Detective. Go do it now. This will still be here.



Done? Good. I probably don't really need to describe him now. Voiced by Vincent Price, kills naysayers by throwing them to his raincor (a cat named Felicia), and likes robots. That's awesome. "Even meaner? You mean it? Even worse than the widows and orphans you drowned?" His song says it all.

Scar - Yay for Hamlet! The Lion King is a great movie for English majors, and Scar is evidence that someone can be both a "muscle man" and a "peter pan." He wasn't some dumb shit that was afraid to get his paws dirty, he killed his brother personally, stole the kingdom, and ran it into the ground. He's got a song, so he's not quite as evil as Jafar, but he is much more successful.

The Coachman - Pinocchio, much like The Princess and the Frog, is a film about working hard to get what you want... except that it's more realistic in the sense that the world is full of assholes that will detract from it. There are half a dozen characters that can be villains. Stromboli is a cruel, greedy, violent fat ass. Honest John is a greedy, murderous crook. Monstro's a fucking whale that eats families. Lampwick is the kind of kid that everyone wants to slap in the face. "Coachman" is easily the most evil of the bastards in this. He uses the dark magic of being a little shit to turn children into "jackasses." That's pretty evil.

So that's that. Disagree? Lemme know. Agree? We can revel in the badassery of Disney's villains.

Most Wonderful [noun] of the [noun]

I love Christmas. I love the family, the food, and the exchange of gifts (in that order.) I love that for one day a year, everyone at least pretends to get along and stop fighting, and has no qualms about giving to the needy.

There was a tradition that we used to have in my family (I don't remember if we still do it) to have enough food to feed two extra people, should someone not have a place to go. It's a beautiful tradition, and I think it should happen everywhere. Ingrain it in your children's hearts. Don't forge the consumerism that goes along with this season.

Exchanging gifts is not "gift giving," as the larger retail chains would have you think. You can exchange gifts all year round, but Christmas (and anniversaries) is specifically for that reason. "Gift giving," implies that you must spend hundreds of dollars to give something, which is a brilliant use of group-think pushing to the borderline retarded. Some of the best gifts I've ever received (and I'm told given) are hand made, and cost little more than the building supplies. Those are the things that matter. It's not the objects that you pass to someone, it's why you're passing them.

I wish I had more time to prepare for the season this year. I had so many ideas for things to give, but the season snuck-up this year. It didn't feel like the holiday season (though realistically, it helped that I wasn't in retail). There was little Christmas music, and Hanukkah came early. Even Kwanzaa passed quietly. I don't care so much about the additional time to buy gifts. Most of my ideas were things to make by hand, that now will have to wait for another year.

What frightens me is that this time of year might be the only thing keeping a few dozen major retail chains alive, thus keeping thousands of people (hundreds I know personally) employed. I can't even say "DON'T BUY STUFF! GIVE LOVE!" this year, like I normally would in my hippie-esque way. I can only say "Give what you think means something, not that gigantic thing with a convincing commercial."

This isn't really the most wonderful time of the year anymore though. I went to BestBuy recently and the line wrapped around the back of the store. I have many friends in this particular branch, some of them looked frazzled from the constant stream of rabid customers. I can't blame them. I'd be haggard too. Some took it better than others, a few keeping a genuine smile through the day. Maybe they just felt loved that someone came to visit them (I loved knowing that when I was in retail too), but they seemed to have it before they realized they were visited. Maybe the Christmas spirit doesn't need to be grafted into everyone. Maybe it's still alive on its own in a few people.

If you celebrate Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Festivus, the Winter Solstice, New Year, and/or Christmas, then I hope you had/have/are currently enjoying it. For Unitarians, happy all of the above.

The struggle goes on, even when you're not there.

I've had "Collapse (Post Amerika)" by Rise Against stuck in my head all day. It's an awesome song, so I don't especially mind. It speaks volumes about my daily life these days as well.

I've never considered myself an activist, or even all that politically oriented. I've always had beliefs, but I never really had to fight to defend them. Up until relatively recently, none of the events around me effected me in the way they have been now. So now, after almost 24 years of life, I'm finally in a position to fight for it.

I'm a Boy Scout, or rather, I was one. Now I'm a scout leader, an adult volunteer. One of my brothers is still involved, and I was in from six years old to now. I used to work at a camp as a teacher, and summers at Aquehonga were all that I looked forward to when I was young. The 'greater' New York Council (GNYC) realized that they had issues (financial and otherwise) and decided the best way to fix these problems was to sell one of the three camps they own. Rather than selling Alpine, which is in Alpine, New Jersey and bleeds money compared to the others, the infinite wisdom of GNYC is to sell William H. Pouch Camp.

Pouch Camp is on Staten Island, making it the only boy scout camp in New York City. It's beautiful and enormous, situated just outside of a school but far enough removed to feel natural still. For this reason, the property is delicious for housing developers to consume.

Why is this camp - the only one that is actually making more money than the cost to operate - the option for sales? Partially for the size of the property. Partially because so much money has been poured into Cub World (as Alpine is called) that they cannot admit what a bad idea it was. Partially because people in business suits have no place in scouting if they have never been one themselves.

If something must be sold, then it should be Cub World. It's a veritable amusement park for cub scouts, with a giant wooden pirate ship, a fake mine, a fort, and a large pool. Why the hell are all these things needed, what do they have to do with scouting? Nothing, except for the pool. Even then, a lake will suffice just as well.

I've been trying to watch my tongue, especially since this is in relation to scouting. So I won't say what I think about most of the gentlemen in GNYC. I won't voice what I want them to do to themselves, nor will I say where they should place the current proposal. I'll be peaceful, and say that they should consider reducing their paychecks before crying broke. They should try more fund raisers. They should give up the lease on the office space in the Empire State building (fourth floor), and work in a scouting environment instead. I don't want these maggots anywhere near my camp, but if giving them an office there instead of losing it all together makes it happen, then I'll tolerate it.

GNYC, in the spirit of Rise Against - a band that wants peace, but knows they can only do so much - I want you to know that I'll be here with every other scouter on this island. Every other in the city. In the state. We all watch you, you only exist because of us. Don't sell off our camp. It isn't in scouting's spirit. It isn't right, and you know it.

Final thoughts on the MTA

I am pleased to inform my readers that this is going to be my last post about the MTA in this blog. With the recent atrocities of service issues, cutting student Metrocards, and continually hiding behind the "law [requiring] them to balance the budget," I've decided they aren't worth this blog's posts.

Instead, I will be creating a new one, and hopefully getting involved with watchdog groups to counteract this economic terrorist organization that is raping the eye socket of New York, (literally) taking copious amounts of time and money from millions of people.

All posts thus far about the MTA will remain on this page, but will be copied to the new one for archival purposes. I will be branching out in an attempt to network others like it together to provide a supply of first hand accounts and opinions about the Metropolitan Transit "Authority" and their immoral actions.

This post will be edited in the next half hour with a link to the new blog. In the meantime, here are a few different takes on the recent crime against our children:

NEW BLOG: THE ONGOING FAILURES OF THE MTA
http://themtafails.blogspot.com/

NY1 News' Story
http://ny1.com/1-all-boroughs-news-content/top_stories/110541/mta-board-passes-doomsday-budget-cuts

WNYC's Story
http://www.wnyc.org/news/articles/146375

MTA Pissing off the Union
http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=11667510

A Decent Person is Punished for Truth
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/12/08/2009-12-08_whistleblower_breaks_nose_loses_teeth_needs_stitches_after_alleged_shove_onto_tr.html

They ate Robin's minstrels. There was much rejoicing.

It is a wonderful feeling, knowing that I will never take another final exam or type a final essay as an undergraduate. While I will not get my BA until May, I will never have to find a thesis from a text again. I will never have to waste hours of my life looking for the right wording to avoid plagiarism through accidental lack of notation (a blog about common things, Oppenheimer).

I feel lighter, though I'm still just as fat as ever. I feel free, even though I'm yet to graduate and am bound to my jobs and family.

I want to dance. I want to write songs, and happy poetry. I want to plant a garden shaped like a heart (human, not stylized). I want to help old people cross streets and collect bottles for shopping carts. I want to join in with senile old Hershel (wherever he may be) in Elvis songs on the bus. I want to play human chess.

This wonderful feeling, like all others, will pass. The buzz started wearing off in the same day, even though it was still fresh. In a week's time the full realization that once I have a degree I leave my job on campus and that I will need to find a full time job in a field not even related to my degree just so I can pay bills will hit me (long sentence). I will hit depression and have a premature midlife crisis. I will lose hair color, sell off most of my furniture, and move to a distant location before realizing that I did it all wrong.

I have some time still before this happens, I'm going to enjoy this euphoria while I can. Maybe I'll write music again, I haven't since this term started. I could use the creative exercise.

Three days? Oh noes!

Writer’s block is a bitch. Common knowledge. This particular bitch is also raging and hormonal at the moment, thus making life difficult.

I haven’t been around for a few days, mostly due to school work. There isn’t all that much of it left, but what’s there is enough to keep me away from this blog. To an extent, I’ve had topics for this in mind, but generally this past week has been about finals and closing projects for my last real term as an undergraduate. All that stands between me and a diploma is a final in Chinese Civilization, a reasonably short portfolio of poems, and a few months of downtime.

Why am I not graduating in January? The administration and internal workings of my institution are terrible. Most of my classmates, colleagues, and peers have discussed this to a huge extent, I don’t really need to talk about it. Feel free to share any insight anyone has in the comments.

Writer’s block, that silly whore, is not actually in my way when it comes to this blog. She’s sitting on the last poem I need to write for my portfolio, flinging bits of refuse at me whenever I try to get close. Maybe if WB wasn’t constantly pissing off the very people she should be attracted to, she’d get laid and be a much more pleasant conceptual individual.

Usually music subdues the block, putting her to sleep long enough for me to tiptoe around her heap of a body. Today she seems intent on jamming with me, and even when I put on something I doubt she’d enjoy, she tries to pull me up to dance. I never dare, knowing she’ll stab me in the ribs and steal my kidneys if I get too close.

She’ll pass out eventually, I just need to outlast her.