MTV.com - News -Jam Master Jay, Run-DMC DJ, Killed In Shooting

I find this incredibly sad. I'm not really much to mourn the passing of a celebrity, but I am moved by this. Probably because Run-DMC really got me into hip hop, and I've always had a special place in my memories for their music. His contributions, along with his bandmates, helped push hip hop into the mainstream. And while many who have followed in their wake have sullied hip hop's good name with their ignorant thuggishness and deplorable materialism, I for one will never forget who helped get it there.

RIP Jay.

nibblechomp

So, when I get bored--you'd be surprised at how often that happens to me--I sometimes look up people I know to see where they pop up on the internet. Tonight, I decided to look for Liz and came across this nifty site. The concept is fabuloso. A foodie blog for foodies and non-foodies alike. It's so wonderful to see people be passionate about food in such down-to-earth and eloquent terms.

Okay, more web surfing. Who will I look for next?

More people should be listening to Janis Ian.

I'm sure many of you by now have heard the "new" Nirvana song, "You Know You're Right." Accompanying such a momentous event has been a lot of unnecessary analysis, trying to place it within the context of the rest of Nirvana's body of work. One article I read even quoted somebody as saying it was one of their ten best songs. As it turns out, that little bit of information has taken on the weight of fact with some people, as a forum I post in regularly has had a few members post similar sentiments. Now, I'm all for difference of opinion, but having heard the song myself, I have to say: are you fucking kidding me? Let me state right away that I think it's a good song--a very good song. But top ten? Have you people even heard anything else by Nirvana? My first impression of the song was that it was just okay, that it sounded too close to Bush doing their best Nirvana impersonation. But I kept listening to it, and eventually, was hooked. It's got a great hook leading into the one word chorus ("pain" stretched out into many syllables; not Kurt's finest writing) and, in the end, definitely worthy of being in the Nirvana canon. Top ten? Not even. Here are 10 songs off the top of my head that are better:

1. About A Girl
2. Aneurysm
3. Blew
4. Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle
5. Heart Shaped Box
6. Lithium
7. Milk It
8. Radio Friendly Unit Shifter
9. School
10. Smells Like Teen Spirit

Hello, and welcome from Washington, D.C., where pumping gas is now considered risky behavior. I'm your host, Damian Vegas, and so far, I'm bullet free.

I know, levity at a time like this, right? Well, unless you're in the D.C. area, you can't really talk. You probably don't walk 25 minutes to work every day, wondering if some lunatic is going to move his operations into the city. You don't embark on that same 25 minutes again at the end of the day, eyes darting around like some crack addict looking for a forgotten rock on the ground, wondering if the odd looking fellow in that white van over there is perhaps going to kill tonight, or maybe even now. So you'll excuse me if I try to break the tension for a minute with a joke or two.

Admittedly, I feel a bit safer being in the city, since trying to elude the police and avoid detection in downtown traffic is a losing gambit. Still, perhaps this guy is a step away from going into complete mental oblivion, where he will just come into town and start blowing people away without a care in the world about being caught. So, until he's apprehended, I will remain uneasy, if not outright spooked.

In other news...you know what really irks me? People who act as if the music they grew up with is untouchable. Like they are the only influences on music there will ever be. Naturally, it's people that are the same age as the groups they worship, who think that because they were around when that particular era broke, that everything else MUST pale in comparison. Meanwhile, they're blasting "Frankenstein." Fuck those clowns. And they usually compound their ignorance by bemoaning the sad state of "today's music." Well, if I only listened to the 5% of music that radio and television allows you to hear, I may say the same thing. Fortunately for me, I'm not lazy (when it comes to music, anyway), and I go out and find the good stuff.

And speaking of that good stuff, I've got 2 cds coming my way, both by the awesome Japanese freakout collective, Acid Mothers Temple. The first is the recently release Electric Heavyland, available from Canada's own Alien8 Recordings. The other is In C, which you can find over at Squealer Music. Hopefully, I'll get both in the next week or so. I'm very excited.

That's all for now. INUKSHUK!

Oh, one more thing: Rachael is now my current fave Camwhore. To quote Seinfeld, "They're real, and they're spectacular!" *swoon* Sadly, she lives in Michigan, which makes her my sworn enemy.

(And if you're wondering, no, I still haven't signed up to be a member. Still don't want to be that guy.)

Two days later, he wrote again.

Hi there, kids! It's time for Damian Vegas to uncloak and give you the 4-1-1!

Ugh...I couldn't even maintain that bit for more than two sentences. I need new material. Perhaps I can steal from Gastrolater #3. Yes, it finally came in the mail from the 'zine author herself, Miss Liz T. I haven't started it yet, but plan on getting around to reading it faster than I did G2. And I'm sure it will be just as good, if not better. If anybody reads this blog, I heartily endorse this product. If you are interested, e-mail me, and I'll let her know. I think the price is $5, or some such. It's well worth it. She's got great design skills, plus she's one of those hyper-literate types, so naturally it's well-written. And, if that wasn't enough to sell you, I also get mentioned twice in the travelogue. Huzzah! What more could you ask for, you greedy bastards?!

What else is in the news...oh yeah, another sniper victim. That brings the death count up to 7. And to think, in a conversation with my friend Monica a month or so ago, I lamented the fact that there weren't any high-profile serial killers these days. You know, like your Ed Geins or your Ted Bundys. Not that I want people to be killed (well, not most people), but since I find them fascinating, in a kinda morbid/scholarly sort of way, it seemed like it had been too long since we had one that was national newsworthy. I wish I hadn't said it.

Now, off to Blisstonia.

Hello, hello. I had a random person take the girlfriend quiz (link is on the left, fool!), so I figured I'd do something web-related, to justify my existence for the day.

And what a world I exist in! It's psychic death at work, which carries over to my home life, leaving with me just enough energy to turn on my television. Then, as I stare at the screen (assuming I don't have "Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law" playing or have my PS2 turned on), I am inundated with images of death in my nice little town. You see, it seems some clown has taken it upon himself to go around playing sniper and killing random people. Granted, his little killing spree is just outside my periphery (I'm in downtown D.C.), but how long before he decides to wander further into the district?

I wasn't afraid of another terrorist attack or anthrax poisoning (because I figured the government, after letting a couple slip past the goalie, would be on total lockdown), and I don't really fear West Nile, even though a couple of people have died in the area. But I am a little bit scared by this. It's so random. I walk 20 minutes to work every morning, and 20 minutes back at night, and it feels like the longest walk now. My eyes are darting around, and whenever I have to stop because of traffic, I feel myself kinda pacing in my little area, as if that would save me. It's really rather frightening. A faceless killer always is. I can't believe this clown has intruded upon my bathos so.

My niece turns one this Saturday. I'll be going to her birthday at Chuck E. Cheese. Between going there for goofy fun with my friend Mark and going with my nephew and niece, I've been to Chuck E. Cheese more as an adult than I did as a kid. And that includes trips to Showbiz Pizza Palace, which we had more of than Chuck E. Cheese where I grew up.

What else you ask? Nothing, really. Almost finished with Final Fantasy X, and have started (barely) Kingdom Hearts. I think I will try conquering Medal of Honor next. Mmmmmmmmm....nerdly.

C'est tout.