We Can Finally Move Forward Now...

By far one of the happiest moments of my life as a news consumer was watching Dubya take off in that helicopter and leaving the parameters of our nation's capital for seemingly the last time as a man in power. The presidency was officially bequeathed this morning by Barack Obama, and I already feel the change occuring.

In the streets of D.C., Harlem, and places outside the nation's borders, people were jubilant in the rise of the nation's first black president, many, whom 45 years earlier, couldn't even drink from the same water fountain as a white person, let alone achieve the presidency. Many people from that generation never thought that they would see a day like today, and that same sentiment carried over to my generation, a generation raised on hip-hop, Nintendo, and the internet.

As revolutionary as this day is (as it should, for this is a remarkable achievement for any African-American), it is easy to forget how qualified Barack Obama is to lead this nation, and how great of an example he is, an example that will resonate with people from all backgrounds. He was raised by a single white mother who lived off food stamps, and worked his way on up to attend the finest universities (Columbia & Harvard), and even after being offered jobs in prestigious law firms, went back to the South Side of Chicago to give back to his community. His life story is a refreshing change in light of our most recent ex-president, who had a silver spoon jammed up so far up his ass he tasted nothing but metal.

We, as a nation, have endured 8 years of greed, dishonesty, and a severe lack of integrity. And now, we are paying for it, even if most of us did not cause it. We are in the middle of two wars, one of them we shouldn't even be in, many of us don't have jobs, our economy sucks, and our reputation as a country has been tarnished in the eyes of our one-time allies (and yes, having allies is important; you don't think we won all those wars singlehandedly did we?). President Obama has walked into the worst situation for any incoming president since FDR, and the man has a lot on his plate. He is not in an enviable position. Bush certainly created many shitstorms and an overwhelming amount of debris as a consequence. Even opponents and non-supporters should wish him luck.

To the outgoing President,

Fuck you. You have helped turn this country from a functioning one to a country badly in need of repair. You let corruption, greed, and lies fly under your nose with a sense of nonchalance towards those who may be affected by it in a way that borders on evil. You have mislead the American people by leading us into a war that served the interests of your criminal oil friends in the name of fear. You have turned Americans against each other, by calling out dissenters and providing a "with us or against us" mentality. Your ridiculous faith-driven beliefs set science back at least 10 years, and your abstinence only approach towards sex ed only lead to more teen pregnancies than ever. Only towards the very end of your joke of an administration did you show any thought to the people you have done wrong, or show any remorse, or any indication that you may have been wrong in many instances. Sure, you could say that "tough decisions had to be made" until judgment day, but some of your decisions defied just "tough times calling for touch measures," considering that things didn't get horrible until recently.

So, enjoy your life in Texas and do us a favor, and keep a low profile. The world has had enough of you & your kind.

With shame and emabrassment,

Kyle

To President Obama,

To reiterate that memo I had written to you right after Election Day, please don't fuck up.

Officially calling for the arson of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Museum...

Ever since I became aware enough to realize its irrelevance, I have had a serious beef with the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Its backdoor politics, elitism, and limitations on who gets in is bullshit. It's a sham. It's based on the opinions and views of like 10 people who claim to "know" music. Assholes like Jann Wenner & David Wild. I keep hoping that they'll get their shit together and stop adding crap among their ranks, much like how a person who has a loved one in a vegetative state hopes that they wake up one day. Year after year, however, I keep getting enraged. I think I'm a sadist, because I shouldn't care, and yet I do.

Once again, The Stooges have been denied entry into the (C)Rock Hall, despite being eligible for the past 15 years, this news coming about a week after the death of guitarist Ron Asheton. Instead, make way for Metallica, Run DMC, Jeff Beck, Little Anthony and the Imperials, and Bobby Womack. Couldn't fit one more inductee in there, ay guys? Why just five inductees a year now? Oh yeah, VH1 has to make more room for relaity shows based on washed-up celebrities, and people who were on other VH1 reality shows who are looking for an extra 5 minutes of fame. This is a fucking disgrace.

Looking at this year's nominees; first we have Metallica. Heavy metal gods, sure. I'd have no problem with them being here if they had put out a decent album since 1988, and if they didn't sue their fans when they downloaded "I Disappear" off of Napster. Run DMC I like, but they're not really "rock & roll" are they? Yet again, this is the same institution that inducted Madonna last year, and Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five back in '07. I guess you could call Run DMC an influence on rock & roll for their collaboration with Aerosmith on "Walk This Way." This move reignited Aerosmith's stagnant career, and was considered by many to be the genesis of "rap rock." Just for that, however, Run DMC should be disqualified. Maybe not; how could they foresee Limp Bizkit? That and I do like Rage Against the Machine. Jeff Beck's already in with the Yardbirds, but I guess his solo career had to be represented there too. The other two nominees should have been inducted years ago.

The (C)Rock hall inducted the Ramones, the Clash, and the Sex Pistols (who refused to attend the ceremony, denouncing the hall as a "piss stain"; their attitude has never left them, thankfully). But not inducting the Stooges is a mortal sin in the world of punk (or anything considered "alternative"). Iggy Pop's antics set the stage for all the Sid Viciouses and Will Shatters of the world (and he managed to survive), Ron Asheton's riffs set the stage for all the Johnny Ramones and Kurt Cobains, and their lack of finesse on their instruments proved to be inspiration to many young misfits, despite virtually no commercial success. That's something Metallica can't claim.

The Stooges have been eligible for induction since 1994, 25 years after their debut album (that's the rule). They should have been inducted then. Let's see who was inducted in 1994:

-The Animals
-The Band
-Elton John
-Duane Eddy
-Grateful Dead
-Rod Stewart
-John Lennon (as a solo artist)
-Bob Marley

OK, what the fuck is Rod Stewart doing in there? The majority of his career was spent crooning Top 40 Adult Contemporary hits. And did they really feel the need to induct the Grateful Dead then, too? Fuck the Dead. All they did was inspire the wave of bad jam bands that people follow like sheep all the time and do lots of drugs (Dave Matthews Band, Phish, etc.). Musically, they had nothing to offer, except turning a 3-minute song into a 35-minute wankfest. They were the representation of all the bad things about the hippie movement; overindulgence, wanking, and cult-like behavior. I would've inducted the Stooges over the Band, too. I don't give a fuck if they were Bob Dylan's backing band, they were boring as hell. Every year since then, the Stooges ahev been passed up for induction, even if Madonna had asked the Stooges to play 2 of her songs at her induction last year (which, in a way, was pretty cool).



The Stooges tearing through "Burning Up" & "Ray of Light."

And don't even get me started on last year's joke of a ceremony. Madonna? John Mellencamp? I'm surprised Huey Lewis didn't get inducted. I'm also sure that because Madonna got inducted, there will be a Britney Spears induction around 2025, I reckon.

Here's a small list of bands I think should be in there and their year of supposed eligibility:
MC5 (1993)
Rush (1999)
New York Dolls (1998)
Tom Waits (1998)
Minutemen (2005)
Husker Du (2007)
Can (1994)
Kraftwerk (1996)
Television (2002)
Skip James (1986)
Nick Drake (1994)

Though, it'll most likely be freezing in hell (as it is here) before that happens.

100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs: 40-21

It's almost over... thank God. Don't worry, there's a reason for this. And some videos for your amusement.



40. Talk Dirty to Me-Poison: Completely throwing a bone at Bret Michaels, since he hosted this show and he earns VH1 plenty of viewers by boning skanks on the Rock of Love.

39. More Than a Feeling-Boston: I wouldn’t consider this a hard rock song. It’s not hard. I don’t care how many guitar tracks Tom Scholz created for it. This song kind of has a new element of sadness to it since their singer turned out to be a pretty unhappy guy, who took his own life a couple years back.

38. Stone Cold Crazy-Queen: Love this song. Queen proved that they had as much balls as Zeppelin or Sabbath with this song. Classic.





37. My Generation-The Who: I think the Who is the most overrated band ever, other than the Eagles. With that said, their earlier stuff was pretty fucking good, and the line “Hope I die before I get old” signaled a new guard in rock music, and stripped rock of its innocence, along with Bob Dylan and the Beatles experimenting with music (and drugs).

36. Hot for Teacher-Van Halen: I’ve been on an “anti-Van Halen” kick, since they reunited w/ David Lee Roth and giving their longtime bassist, Michael Anthony, the boot. Eddie Van Halen is an arrogant piece of shit, and overrated. However, this song kicks ass, and I still crank it every now and then, as it’s one of their radio workhorses that I’m not entirely sick of. And what school did David Lee Roth go to that had all these ‘hot’ teachers? I’ve never been “hot for teacher” I think ever.



35. School's Out-Alice Cooper: Alice Cooper deserves to be on any hard rock list. My pick would have been “I’m Eighteen.”

34. Barracuda-Heart: Another one of those bands that my dad listened to 24/7 that I never want to hear again. This song’s one of the few songs by Heart I can stomach, probably because it rocks.

33. Basket Case-Green Day: Besides Nirvana, Green Day was my band from when I was 9 or 10. They suck now, but I enjoy spinnin’ Dookie every now & then.

32. Cat Scratch Fever-Ted Nugent: Say what you want about the Nuge; right-wing loudmouth, sexist, asshole, pro-NRA, anti-even drinking a beer every now & again (but bone underage chicks and have a few baby mamas across the planet; that‘s fine). Indeed he is. But I can’t help but like “Cat Scratch Fever.” The only decent riff the Nuge squirted out, amongst gallons of semen on underage groupies.

31. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap-AC/DC: I think “TNT” or “Highway To Hell” would have represented the Bon Scott years better than this song, but this song ain’t bad either.

30. Even Flow-Pearl Jam: Ya know, I just don’t like Pearl Jam too much anymore. And, they have better songs than “Even Flow.”

29. Bad Reputation-Joan Jett and the Blackhearts: No arguments against this song. Joan Jett has more attitude than most dudes on this list. Plus, she’s sexy as hell.

28. Everlong-Foo Fighters: Dave Grohl proved his worth as a songwriter with “Everlong.” I often say that this was one of the few things that made the end of Nirvana kind of worth it. I always loved the riff.

27. Still of the Night-Whitesnake: HA! Whitesnake. What a fuckin’ joke.

26. Freebird-Lynyrd Skynyrd: If hating Lynyrd Skynyrd and “Freebird” is considered “un-American” (as one blogger wrote), then I’m on board with al-Qaeda.

25. Blitzkrieg Bop-Ramones: Should be way higher, for most of the band that came after the Ramones (and bands on this list) would not exist. I fucking LOVE the Ramones, and still can’t believe that 3 of Da Brudders are gone. Sad story behind the band too.



24. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida-Iron Butterfly: Great riff, but did the song REALLY need to be 17 minutes long?

23. Crazy Train-Ozzy Osbourne: After he left Black Sabbath, I don’t really care about Ozzy…. Except for this song, and maybe 3 or 4 others. Even then, Sabbath stopped making good records after 1974.

22. Hey Joe-Jimi Hendrix Experience: OK, why isn’t this song in the Top 10? And why “Hey Joe?” Why not “Purple Haze?” People are stupid. Not that I’m slamming “Hey Joe.”

21. Kashmir-Led Zeppelin: Zeppelin’s crowning achievement, in my honest opinion. This song is fucking fantastic, and should be higher than #21 (especially since the song that came at #20 flat out blows and is unworthy in the face of “Kashmir”)

Top 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs (60-41)

Yes, I'm slacking. But it has been a pretty hectic week. Part 3 of my commentary on a stupid list (Why am I even doing this? Boredom and underemployment, I guess. And to exemplify my music snobbery). I'm including some videos here for sheer entertainment value, and because I can. Thanks, YouTube!

Here we go:

60. 18 and Life-Skid Row: I think this is on the list to throw a bone at Sebastian Bach, since the only publicity (or work) he probably gets is on these VH1 shows.

59. The Stroke-Billy Squier: “Stroke me, stroke me!” I’ll pass. Go dance around in a pink tank top.



58. Interstate Love Song-Stone Temple Pilots: Definitely one of their best songs, even if I don’t really give a shit about STP anymore.

57. You Really Got Me-The Kinks: They should be higher. They were definitely the best band of the British Invasion, and were definitely responsible for the creation of hard rock. I’d put “All Day and All of the Night” in my Top 10.

56. Cherry Pie-Warrant: SHE’S MY CHERRY PIE! TOO BAD I DON’T LIKE THESE GUYS! THESE GUYS ARE So UNMETAL IT MAKES ME CRY! SWEET CHERRY PIE!

55. Don't Fear the Reaper-Blue Oyster Cult: Should be higher. This song is just fantastic.

54. Epic-Faith No More: I never really got Faith No More. Supposedly Mike Patton is metal’s version of Frank Zappa, but I find him kind of pretentious. This song is good though, and so is “Falling To Pieces.”

53. Born to Be Wild-Steppenwolf: The penultimate biker anthem. My dad is obsessed with Steppenwolf, so if I never heard this song again, it’d be too soon.

52. Cherry Bomb-The Runaways: Launched the careers of Joan Jett and Lita Ford, and showed that all-girl bands could party with the boys.

51. Peace Sells-Megadeth: Pretty fuckin’ good song. If I compiled a list of best hard rock songs, my Megadeth pick would be reserved for “Holy Wars.”

50. Give It Away-Red Hot Chili Peppers: Not big on the Chili Peppers. Maybe if I didn’t hear this song all the time, I’d have more positive things to say about it.

49. Search and Destroy-The Stooges: You will all bow down to the Stooges! Iggy Pop, at the ripe old age of 61, has more energy and charisma than people half his age. If you want heavy, listen to the original David Bowie-produced fuzzfest mix of Raw Power! It’ll knock the metal spikes off of Iron Maiden! RIP, Ron.



48. Freak on a Leash-KoRn: The 7th grade me loved KoRn. The 23 year old me finds them KoRny.

47. Bawidabata-Kid Rock: Get me the puke bucket! This spent piece of white trash ranked higher than The Stooges? Ohhhh no! This list is officially retarded!

46. Madhouse-Anthrax: Out of the 4 thrash metal bands to really make it (Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer, Megadeth), I never really got into Anthrax. But I respect ‘em. BTW, how come there are NO Slayer songs on this list? Pussies.

45. Slow Ride-Foghat: SLOW RIDE! TAKE IT EASY! This song will always make me think of that scene in Dazed & Confused where that chick is rolling up a joint, blasting this song on headphones (parodied on Family Guy, with the Evil Monkey rolling up a joint and crankin’ up the Foghat!).

44. Sunshine of Your Love-Cream: Should be higher, because Cream were one of the first archetypes of hard rock, along with the Who, the Kinks, and Hendrix.

43. Holy Diver-Dio: I hate admitting this, but I like this song! I’ve come to appreciate Ronnie James Dio a little bit in my old(er) age. Even the cheesy keyboard in “Rainbow in the Dark.”

42. Should I Stay or Should I Go-The Clash: Not my top pick for the Clash at all. Such a great band, though. I’m still pissed as hell that Joe Strummer died, and there was talk of a Clash reunion around that time. Anyway, as for Clash songs that could’ve made this list: “Rock the Casbah,” “London Calling,” “White Riot,” “Clash City Rockers,” “Clampdown.” (see video below)



41. Cum on Feel the Noize-Quiet Riot: I think Quiet Riot gets credit for being the first metal band to top the Billboard charts, but musically they had nothing to offer. Never mind the fact that 2 out of 3 songs I know from them were Slade covers.

100 Greatest Rock Songs (80-61)

80. Any Way You Want It-Journey: Journey + hard rock = No solution (I wish I knew of a way to create the zero with the line crossing it out like they do in algebra class when a problem had no solution).

79. Rebel Yell-Billy Idol: The snarler! I would have picked “White Wedding” myself.

78. Feel Like Makin' Love-Bad Company: This song deserves to be on the list, even if I’m not too fond of it. Why the hell not?

77. Black Hole Sun-Soundgarden: “Black Hole Sun” this low on the countdown? This song would be in my Top 20.

76. Kiss Me Deadly-Lita Ford: Lita Ford had attitude, but this song was too glossy; as glossy as a 8x10 black & white wedding photo.

75. Seven Nation Army-White Stripes: I’m not sure if the White Stripes would be considered ‘hard rock’ but I guess they are in a lot of ways. A lot of their songs have pulsating beats, ballsy riffs, and a ton of passion, and send me off in a frenzy. Try to get me not to thrash around when “Fell In love With a Girl” or “Black Math” come on.

74. Love Removal Machine-The Cult: Never really got into The Cult.

73. Jailbreak-Thin Lizzy: I like a few Thin Lizzy songs. I love the riff in this song.

72. Heartbreaker-Pat Benatar: A classically-trained operatic female singer, who was about 5’1 and 98 pounds who sang “Love is a Battlefield.” Turns out, she was capable of churning out a song that flat out rocked.

71. Mountain Song-Jane's Addiction: I don’t love Jane’s Addiction, but I appreciate that they were one of the few pre-Nirvana alternative bands that somewhat broke through. This song is awesome, though.

70. Hot Blooded-Foreigner: I dunno man. I think “I Wanna Know What Love Is” eclipsed anything “hard rock” about Foreigner. Even then, I wouldn’t consider Foreigner a hard rock band anyway.

69. Cult of Personality-Living Colour: Back in 1988, an all-black metal band showed whitey how it was done! I always loved the guitar solo.

68. More Human Than Human-White Zombie: This song is in every other movie or commercial, so this song certainly has had an impact, even if I find Rob Zombie to be pretty silly.

67. Tush-ZZ Top: Not big on ZZ Top. But I guess they earned a spot on this list. Those beards!

66. The Final Countdown-Europe: OK, now this is just sad. A few years back, VH1 ranked this song as the Most Awesomely Bad Metal Song Ever, as well as naming it one of the "Least Metal Moments." Just for that, this song should be disqualified from even being a nominee for this list, even if this list ranks "hard rock" songs. That, and this song just flat out blows. The singer looks like Kylie Minogue ferchrissakes!

65. Kick Out the Jams-MC5: Now we’re talking! They were punk before punk. They were metal before metal. They were MC before MC Hammer (an actual quote from the late Rob Tyner). Who else in 1968 started off a song with “Kick out the jams, motherfuckers!”?

64. Liar-Rollins Band: Gotta love Henry Rollins. I’m not big on the Rollins Band, but he is a great writer and orator. And I love Black Flag. I’d put “Rise Above” or “Six Pack” on my list of best hard rock songs.

63. Eye of the Tiger-Survivor: Immediate disqualification because of its association with Sylvester Stallone.

62. Breaking the Chains-Dokken: You’ll never catch me rockin’ to Dokken.

61. Round and Round-RATT: Not too big on “RATT & roll” either. Enough with the 80s hair metal, already! The metal on those bands’ Aqua Net bottles were more metal than them!

WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK?!?!?!?!?

Indeed, another great musician has left this earth. Ron Asheton of the Stooges was found dead in his Michigan home. Age 60. One of the most influential (and underrated) guitarists in history. I was going through a major Stooges kick too, recently.

Well, this blows. My girlfriend and I had a chance to see The Stooges 2 years ago in New York, but were strapped for dough at the time, and missed out, thinking 'Oh yeah, they'll definitely be back.' I dunno what the future for the Stooges looks like now with Ron's passing. This blows. WHY CAN'T A GUY IN A BAD BAND DIE FOR ONCE?

RIP, Ron.

The 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs (100-81) (Yeah right...)

As promised, I am posting the first 20 songs on VH1's mostly pathetic list of the 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs, hosted by a guy who just DEFINES hard rock. Ozzy? Lemmy? Rob Halford? Angus Young from AC/DC? Nope. Bret Michaels of Poison! Probably to promote the upcoming season of Rock of Love. Hasn't this guy banged enough sluts in the course of 20+ years? Anyway, this list was determined by viewers, as opposed to critics and musicians, so this pretty much explains why some horrible songs are on this list. The first hour (the first 20 songs) were definitely the worst of the bunch. Read on.

100. I Can't Drive 55 - Sammy Hagar: Sammy Hagar pre-Van Halen… I suppose it’s a decent song, but I have a hard time considering Sammy Hagar “hard rock,” due to him adding ballads to Van Halen’s list of “accomplishments.”

99. We're an American Band- Grand Funk Railroad: Grand Funk Railroad is hard rock? Well, OK.

98. Lit Up- Buckcherry: I never understood Buckcherry’s appeal when they first came out when I was like 14, perhaps cuz I was too angry to listen to a band that sounded like a newer Black Crowes. Now, 10 years later I heard this song again, and realized why I didn’t like them; because they were mediocre, as were the Black Crowes.

97. Frankenstein - Edgar Winter: That riff is pretty hard rock! But not one of my favorite songs by a long shot.

96. Carry On Wayward Son - Kansas: Ah, no. Kansas is about as hard rock as a stuffed koala bear.

95. Higher - Creed: The day I consider Creed a hard rock band is the day I consider George W. Bush to be a good president. Seriously. These pseudo-spiritual Pearl Jam rip-offs are by far one of the top 3 worst things to happen to music in the past 15 years. And did you see Scott Stapp’s new style? He went from looking like a grunge-era reject to looking like an American Idol reject. Asshole.

94. I Believe In a Thing Called Love - The Darkness: Never took this song seriously, probably because Justin Hawkins’ vocals made Barry Gibb sound like Barry White, but I suppose it was a throwback to all those emo bands who took themselves too seriously.

93. Turn Up the Radio - Autograph: Don’t care about this song enough. Your typical 80s rock song.

92. Don't Tell Me You Love Me - Night Ranger: Don’t tell me that Night Ranger is a hard rock band.

91. Bullet With Butterfly Wings - Smashing Pumpkins: Definitely one of their heaviest moments. “Despite all my rage I’m still just a rat in a cage.” Defines rage to a T.

90. Aqualung - Jethro Tull: Art rock w/ flutes… normally, not very “hard rock,” but believe it or not the Aqualung album had some pretty heavy moments.

89. Party Hard - Andrew W.K.: I always thought this guy was a colossal joke. Some things should stay in 2001, much like how hair metal should have stayed in 1988.

88. Would? - Alice In Chains: I’m surprised they picked “Would?” I thought “Man In The Box” would be a shoe-in, but I’m not complaining. “Would?” is one of Alice In Chain’s best songs, one of their most poignant, and only got sadder with Layne Staley’s death. I find it hard to sit through an Alice In Chains record, though.

87. Seventeen - Winger: Oh sure, this is hard rock… Lars Ulrich made that Kip Winger dartboard because Metallica was envious on how rockin’ Winger was compared to them!

86. The Beautiful People - Marilyn Manson: Marilyn Manson is a joke now, but this song (and the Antichrist Superstar album) didn’t fuck around. Ah, memories.

85. Slither - Velvet Revolver: Good song. But, like Audioslave, VR was more of a case of curiosity to see how members of 2 different bands of two different types could work together.

84. I Wanna Be Somebody - W.A.S.P.: Not into WASP. Kiudos to them for pissing off Tipper Gore, though. I wonder how Tipper Gore found out about “Fuck Like a Beast,” though… or “Golden Showers” by the Mentors, as opposed to more obvious mainstream targets, such as Prince and Twisted Sister…

83. Bring Me to Life - Evanescence: No disrespect, but Evanescence isn’t really hard rock. Amy Lee has a good voice, but she sings like the same 5 notes in every song.

82. Since You've Been Gone - Rainbow: Why not “Stargazer?” Or “Man on the Silver Mountain?” Or any song with Ronnie James Dio upfront? Nope. The voters have spoken, and decided they like their Rainbow songs to be early 80s cheesy and sung by a guy who was pretty much hard rock’s version of the guy from Mr. Mister.

81. Heaven and Hell - Black Sabbath: Well, here’s Dio now, speak of the devil… To me though, Sabbath will always be the original line-up with Ozzy.

Next up are the songs from 80-61. Stay tuned.

New Year, New Approach

I rung in the new year tipsy and sad. Not a good way to start the last year of the trainwreck called the 2000s. I can't say life has been at all stable the last few months or so. The job market's dim, the economy sucks, Israel & Hamas are fighting each other to holy hell, and now I'm fighting a cold. But why should I let it continually get me down? Why should my mind be a never ending tidal wave of bad thoughts and negative emotions?

I'm just glad that the holidays are over. The holidays put everything on pause, and don't tell me it doesn't! People go off their diets, employers put off hiring people, and people hold off on changing their lives for the cliched New Years Resolution. Including me.

But this year, things are gonna be different. They better be. I've learned to fight through how exhausted and depressed I get to just move forward and get things I need to get done. I've learned to save money better than I have been the past few years. I've learned that as a person I'm OK, and I'm 18 credits shy of a Bachelor's Degree. I've learned that I'm capable of kicking ass, and that beating myself up all the time just doesn't get anywhere.

There will be a lot more entries in this blog. There will be a lot more money in my bank account. There will be nothing but positive things this year, goddammit!

My friend Joe is leaving for Iraq in a couple of days. He's in the Air Force. Thankfully, he won't be in a combat zone, but I'm still worried about his safety. It's still so goddamn unstable over there (although, last month, casualties there were at an all-time low since the war started). Tonight's his last hurrah here. My friends and I are going to a steakhouse. It'll be fun but bittersweet. He is letting me housesit his Playstation 3 for 5 months, so I guess that's one positive. I'll miss him though. We got to be pretty close over the past year or so.

So, yeah, I'm gonna start the new year off by commenting on VH1's mostly pathetic list of the 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs they had on the past week. Those list shows used to be pretty good, but now they let fans vote, and most music fans I think are 5/8's retarded. I mean, how else can you explain Britney Spears' latest musical abortions outselling pretty much everything else out there? Anyway, I'll get to work on that within the next day or so. I'll also be looking for more online freelancing jobs and a normal shit job to keep the $$$ rolling in... sort of.