THIS IS THE SOUND THAT SPARKS THE FIRE

Moving.

2009-05-27T18:19:00.003-04:00

So after thinking it over, I've decided to move over to Wordpress. I think there are more opportunity's and a more active community over there, and it just seems like the way to go. If you want to follow me over there, you may do so: sparksthefire.wordpress.com

Farewell.

What is selling out?

2009-05-21T22:14:00.003-04:00

Ah, the topic that never fails to get an answer out of me. What is the definition of this SO commonly used phrase to describe a band? My definition: Selling out is not when you've gone multi-platinum and your on the cover of every magazine, but when you've drifted away from the reason you started making music in the first place. Not because your really popular and your CD just sold a bazillion copies, but because that CD wasn't you. It was something you knew would get you a big paycheck, and there was no risk involved. Fair enough?

What got me thinking about this, was Green Day's new record, "21st Century Breakdown" I was skeptical at first when i saw the track listing, seeing how it was separated into parts. Reminded me SO much of what they did with American Idiot, their last album. Then there was the first single "Know Your Enemy" When i first heard it, i hated it. In fact, I still do. I'm listening to the album right now, as I'm writing this. I've gotten as far as "East Jesus Nowhere" I'm trying really hard to like it.

I stood up for Green Day alot in middle school. I was a huge fan long before American Idiot, and I actually liked that album. My friends would pick and prod and say things like "Ew, their such sellouts." Believe it or not, They were my favorite band at one point in time, and I saw them live with dyed blue spiked hair, and loved every second of it. That aspect of me still exists (with the exception of the hair), and i still like them as a band. This new album though, it just gets to me. I feel like It's not even them anymore. This music sounds nothing like them, but yet I can clearly hear Billie Joe's distinguishable vocals. I'm not one of those people who agrees with everything anyone says about music. For example, if I'm standing in a group of people, (true story) were talking about Rise Against, and someone says "Ehh I don't like their new shit" and everyone agrees, I'm probably going to be the one to say "Nahh The new album is great, I'll burn it for you."

Then theirs other things like an email i received today, from my uncle containing this link to a Yahoo article about Green Day refusing to put their album in Wal Mart stores because of censorship.

My reply: "I understand where their going with that, and their a big enough band that their fans are going to get the record whether they buy it at Walmart, Target, iTunes, or steal it. So it doesn't matter for them. But what about the lesser-known artists that need the publicity? Regardless of censorship, their going to do what makes more sense for them. And besides, All of Green Day's previous-explicit records were released in both formats, and the versions of their songs being played on the radio RIGHT NOW are censored, so if it comes down to it and a kid wants to listen to them, but their parents make them buy the censored versions, their screwed. Way to think of your fans! Haha this whole idea of censorship and changing what you originally wrote has always spun around in the back of my mind. You can either go with the flow and give up some creative control, and reach a bigger audience, or you can play the originality card and make headlines. Whatever floats your boat!"

I leave you with this extremely long post, yet long overdue. If i stop procrastinating so much i might just post a review of the new Cd. Look forward to that. As for now, goodnight blog-o-sphere.

Buy me this!

2009-05-05T23:08:00.000-04:00

This is total WIN btw.

http://www.nbcuniversalstore.com/detail.php?p=24175

What's on your Wii? MY FACE.

2009-05-05T21:58:00.002-04:00

So for Christmas this past year, my uncle got me a personalized skin for my PS3. It was a picture of Hershey and I, and it was white. I was in my closet the other day and realized i had forgotten about it all this time, and figured I'd use it!

So the actual picture was supposed to go on the top of the PS3, where the logo is, and the rest of the skin is plain white. The more i looked at it, the more awkward i thought it would look on a black PS3 with my mug on there, the top half white, and the bottom half black. So instead, I cut the skin to fit my Wii!

I think it looks pretty rad, mostly because the Wii is originally white and it just blends better. It was pretty easy to Cut it to fit from a PS3 skin since the PS3 skin is much larger, and i had more to work with.

Who's face is on your Wii?

Trace Of Day Show 5/2/09

2009-05-03T23:42:00.000-04:00

So last night was my first Trace Of Day show since i got home from Tennessee. It's always really great to be gone for awhile and come back to familiar faces and a good time, and this was no exception. I met some new people, saw some great bands I hadn't seen before, and got to chill with my friends whom i missed.

For some reason, everyone was infatuated with my radd ass neon green sunglasses, and had to try them on. Including Chuck, who looks pretty baller in that picture.

Anyway, good night interwebs!

YouTube Fantasy.

2009-05-02T01:34:00.001-04:00

So lately Dean and I have been thinking about all the "funny" people on youtube, and asking ourselves "Why aren't we doing that?" If fred can make up a short list of fictional characters and edit a video in windows movie maker, SO CAN WE. Were not setting out to be the next fred, or the next anything, were just seeing where this takes us. We both have a passion for comedy and making movies is something we both enjoy, so why not. Anyway, we're really excited about our latest video "The Pirate Bay Sketch" so here it is. Enjoy!

So tired...

2009-05-01T12:29:00.002-04:00

So last night i was up until well past 3am. For what you might ask? Studying? Work? No, Netflix! Yes, i wasted countless hours watching episodes of The Whitest Kids U Know, The Office, Heroes, ect. It's so easy to loose track of time on there with instant viewing being as awesome as it is. So what's it missing? TV Playback.

Yeah, yeah, i know. They already have TV playback. The Roku box, The Xbox 360...I'm talking about the PS3! How cool would it be to stream Movies instantly to your TV the second you feel like watching them? Missed an episode of HEROES? Don't waste time downloading torrents when you could just have it playng with the press of the X button. Totally.

It's not like Netflix would loose anything from adding playback to the PS3. I think they would acctually gain more subscribers. I know of quite a few people on the internet that have said that if Netflix added compatibility with the PS3 that they would switch from their neighborhood movie store to Netflix. And as for Sony's video service suffering as a result of adding Netflix compatibility, I think i recall Microsoft having a similar service before adding Netflix compatibility to their systems. So come on Netflix and Sony! Get the wheels a turnin'!

Loving Right Now: Compaq Presario CQ50.

2009-04-30T21:32:00.004-04:00

Okay, so even though i swore that the next computer i buy wouldn't be a PC, I might make an exception. This sweet baby would be an excellent sidekick to the MacBook. (That i don't own yet.) Even though it has Windows Vista, It's still a pretty sleek model.

I've had Compaq's before that felt like a toy. All plastic-ie. I've gotten the chance to play around with a family members Compaq Presario, and i gotta tell you I'm in love. It comes fully loaded: with 200GB Hard Drive, and 3Gig's of RAM, this sucker runs smoother (and has more memory) than my Desktop!

I don't know that I'll actually go through with buying one (as i am submitting my bid on eBay) But i assure you, i still long for Apple. :'(

Heroes Season 3 Finale Lastnight...

2009-04-29T23:06:00.005-04:00

I've always loved Heroes. Ever since the pilot, Tim Kring has had something going on on the show that made it impossible for me not to watch. It always seemed like He took the things i dream about and put it on my Television screen. Basically Heroes is my LOST. (I could never get into lost, though...) Anyway now that you understand my obsession with Heroes, i can go on.

There are many things to say about the season 3 finale. Honestly the first thought that flickered through my mind was "That was it?" Not to say that it wasn't suspenseful in any way, just not what i expected. I saw a preview on Attack Of The Show that featured Zeljko Ivanek (a.k.a. Emile Danko on Heroes) talking about how the finale would have such a great cliffhanger. I guess that caused me to over speculate, and over anticipate what would happen. I think the episode before the finale (Episode 24: I Am Sylar) Left more of a cliffhanger than the finale!

If you'd ask me i think the whole thing with "Nathan Petrelli" actually being Sylar is going to complicate things, and eventually come out. After all, Sylar said himself in a previous episode that "Every one has something they can do, besides their ability. Something that reminds them of who they really are." Sylar's thing is the watches. And you can totally tell that Nathan is really Sylar, at the very end of the finale. You can see the guilt on Angela Petrelli's face. What will Claire and Peter do when they find out the real Nathan is dead?

Anyway, that's enough Heroes rambling. Time for dreaming. Goodnight world.

Tooth. Hurts. Like. Hell.

2009-04-29T00:42:00.004-04:00

So i sit here, as the orajel begins to numb my mouth, growing weary as the time passes. Thinking not of the past, but in the distant future. Making lists and plans, because that's what i am. a list maker. Not to label myself, even though i am perfectly content with the bland title, for now anyway. With foma lyrics stuck in my head and room temperature water soothing my throat, i slowly begin to ease into my bed, getting comfier by the minute.

I love writing my life like a book. Each page working towards a much bigger plot. It truly inspires me. I'm always talking about how i don't want to loose who i am right now, and who my friends are, my interests. I'm adding to that list "the ability to constantly amaze and inspire myself." Because i was the child who took my fourth grade teacher too seriously when she asked me "If you were stranded on a desert island and you could only bring three items, what would they be?" I've been thinking about this lately, how our ideas and goals shift and change so often as we grow older. I was sitting by a fire with some great friends recently. Some new, some old, some i had just met that day. We talked about how we wished we could just keep this moment. this place in time. I told them about friends that are older than me that I've known for years. I saw them in their teen years and eventually adulthood and growing up. I saw them change and drift away almost. I don't want that to be me.

I want to always have my friends, always have my music, always have fun, and most importantly always have me. In middle school my friends and I would just have fun. We didn't care what anyone thought as long as we were having a good time. I've tried mimicking this a million times by now, and let me tell you, trying not to care always fails. My friend (who's name i will not mention) Who i have known since the 7th grade used to be my best friend. a few years ago, i would've done anything for her. I just this weekend realized that she hasn't been a good friend in any sense. She doesn't have respect for herself, so it makes her incapable of having respect for anyone else. I'm not sure i really ended it on a clear note, but instead of ending our friendship with a fight, i just showed myself the truth, and the truth is that i won't be hanging out with her voluntarily for awhile. I don't know exactly what I'm getting into or if I'm making the right decisions, but i do know that i am happy right here, right now. I guess this is part of growing up and finding myself.

Anyway, i just got really deep there. So with that said, let this be a testament that i can go back and read and remember how i felt in this moment, on this day. Also that I've got a heroes finale to watch a day late! Watch out for a blog about it tomorrow. Until then, Peace.

Check This Video: The Asians Are Attacking!

2009-04-28T02:34:00.002-04:00

Click Here to comment on this video via YouTube.

The week's getting better.

2009-04-22T23:39:00.003-04:00

1. Facebook apologized via email, and gave me back my account. you can check that out here. Giving facebook another try, but honestly I've got enough stuff to keep up with. (This is keyword for facebook is super addicting so i'll keep mine, for now.)

2. Figured out that all the posts on my twitter that come out like this are from sms updates when my update is 2 pages; Longer than the character limit.

3. The Nintendo DSi still pisses me off.

3 things that are pissing me off this week.

2009-04-20T12:07:00.002-04:00

1. FaceBook disabling my account for no frickin' reason:

2. My twitter updates coming out like this:

3. The Nintendo DSi, and the fact that it is on my amazon wishlist.

So i caved and got Rock Band yesterday.

2009-02-06T00:20:00.004-05:00

I know, i know. I am extremely late on this trendy Music-rhythm game. But hey i have been a big believer in Guitar Hero since GH2 and i wasn't about to trade in my stickered up plastic Git-fiddle for a Gimmick or imitation. I was first introduced to RB at a GameStop. I forget witch one, but it's irrelevant anyway. It was at an Xbox 360 Kiosk and I chose a song and started to strum and i soon found out that none of the buttons worked. Customers, namely kids, tend to be really harsh on controllers at kiosks I've found. But they are not always to blame. Sometimes it's simply the system.

Haha. anyway so my first Rock Band attempt was a complete fail. So that brings me to my next topic. Swap tree. ST was recommended to me from a friend who knows that i own a lot of video games that i barley play anymore. Basically you sign up and put the games/dvd's/books/Cd's that you have and would like to get rid of onto your "Have list" and then you make a "Want list" other users do the same and when swap tree finds someone who wants the item you have and has the item you want, it initiates a trade. It sounded pretty cool to me, so i set up an account and posted a few games and movies i didn't want anymore. About a week passed and i finally found a trade i liked. I was to trade Mario Party 8 for Wii, for Rock Band for PS3.

Sounded like a pretty cool first trade, and it would allow me to check out Rock Band in the comfort of my own home, rather than a kiosk. and i could re trade it if i didn't like it. So i ship mine out in bubble wrap, a box, and everything to ensure it would be safe on its trip to NY. I got my game in an envelope, open it up to find the case shattered, but the game still intact. So after the scare i slid the game disc into my PS3, and had tons of fun. RB has way more songs that i know and feels like a step ahead GH. They offer stuff in their past game that the Guitar Hero franchise just released. Since the GHWT controllers all work with RB it was a win-win.

Anyway, check out www.swaptree.com It's a pretty cool site.

What Gives?

2009-02-04T11:59:00.001-05:00

As if the world didn't already have enough problems as it is, we've got to meddle into and exploit other peoples lives and create more chaos. Yes, I am talking about Micheal Phelps. Yes, I'm also talking about Nadya Suleman. (The lady with all the damn kids) Sure, media is media and these two are in the spotlight this week. (I'll also admit that this is me inadvertently making up for the blogs that haven't been posted in a week or two.) But let's get back to my rant. So the economy's in the shitter, We just elected our 44th president, you'd think people would have more to talk about than an Olympic medalist, or rather "A 23-YEAR OLD GUY" taking hits from a bong at a party MONTHS AGO, and a woman who is massively reproducing. Honestly people? I am quite possibly just picking up on this with little sleep, and being easily aggravated, but this shows me more of what the world is going to be like in 10 years than the high gas prices ever did. STOP CARING SO MUCH.

Playstation 3 firmware update v.2.60

2009-01-21T00:15:00.002-05:00

Many PlayStation 3 owners woke up this morning to a new firmware update. (v.2.60) Most of us (including me) have been awaiting some of the Top 10 Most wanted features on the PS3 (some of these were taken from user posts on GameSpot Forums):

1. Ability to send files (not just pictures) to your PSN Friends.

2. Friend search by email as well as PSN ID.

3. Be able to insert a DVD and copy the main movie to the PS3 HDD

4. VIDEO Playlists

5. BE able to select ANY video from the XMB and select (via triangle button) "COPY VIDEO TO PSP". This will not only copy a video to the handheld but CONVERTS IT on the fly to the correct codec.

6. An Audio Equalizer available SYSTEM WIDE, so you can make your music (or your movies) sound a little more special.

7. A system wide SEARCH MEDIA function. I have more than 600 complete CD's, 140 movies and a LOT of pictures. I would like to use a SEARCH function from the XMB that can look into ANY media file and return a LIST with all the matches, no matter picture, music, video, downloaded content, game save or else, and then (via triange or any better way) let me view, copy, handle this content (is already on my HDD, not?)

8. Make categories for Friends (i.e. "Best Frieds", "Frienemys", etc...)

9. Cross Game invites (via Home or the XMB)

And my personal favorite and most wanted feature:

10. Be able to listen to my own music via the XMB while in Games/Playstation Home.

Simple, simple requests. So what exactly did this update contain? The ever useful PHOTO GALLERY.

What would we do without a Photo Gallery App? I mean seriously Sony, this isn't the Wii. I could care less about putting frames and borders around my pictures on my gaming console. You can really tell they are trying to push the whole "Media Storage" thing. Maybe i am going too hard on this, but i was hoping for something much more useful to me. The Photo Gallery is great if your the type of person who stores your entire family photo collection on your PS3. It makes managing photos pretty simple and can even sort your photos by Age, The number of people in the photo, Whether you are smiling or not, etc. It does have a few bugs though, mainly it was positive that a picture of my dog was a landscape. I guess we will just have to cross our fingers about the next update. -sigh-

So here's the skinny.

2009-01-19T15:38:00.004-05:00

I suck at updating things. I forget about stuff an hour after i do it and that sucks. I'm not promising anything but i will try to post on a semi-regular schedule. If i remember. =/ Anyway i got a PS3 for Christmas. SCORE! I have been wanting one since launch and now that i finally have one, i couldn't be happier. (My Wii on the other hand...) I got LittleBigPlanet, Fallout 3, and Guitar Hero: World Tour. I think I'm going to post separate "reviews" of each game later on, but for right now I'm going to sum it up with this: I have no more free time. This is not necessarily a bad thing. :)

I guess i Just don't get it.

2008-11-12T02:38:00.002-05:00

What the hell is SO wrong with a hot chick doing a TV ad for a videogame? NOTHING. Fucking get over yourselves internet.

You may now go back to your Gears Of War 2. =]

So yesterday was pretty bad.

2008-10-08T13:50:00.002-04:00

The puppy's been sick so I've been cleaning up dog shit for the past 2 days. Sam randomly decided to puke in my room, and today the cats shit in the hallway. It's like their all against me or something. I'm fighting the war on dog shit. That sounds fucking fantastic. My mom didn't get home till late, just to tell me my schooling is going to cost a shit load of money that we dont have so if i DO indeed get to go, It's not going to be until January. This seriously blows. Not just because i now have to get a full time job, but I have been so anxious and excited for this, and now January just seems so far away...

I've been taking the pills my shrink gave me. Every time i see them i think to myself "Does this define me?" Does it? Can one little white pill save me? I don't think so. I could survive without them, so why am i on this medication? Is it because every shrink is so readable that the second you say something about wanting to commit suicide, they give you medication just to cover their asses in case i ever really did it? I don't know. It just seems like everytime i take one of those pills i have a rush of these thoughts coming to me. I think i'm more fucking depressed after taking the pills than i was before. Anyway, I'm out.

SO many things..

2008-09-23T15:53:00.006-04:00

..to write about.

I know it's old news, but i'm getting used to iTunes 8.0, and loving it. The genius thing is amazing and really not that far off. HEROES premiered last week. OH MY GOD amazing. Been busy working on Trace Of Day stuff. Launched their new myspace profile last friday. (you can view that here.) It went pretty well, people seem to like it, so i guess the missed sleep was worth it. Had an out of town show this past weekend. Not much to say about that, it was a long 3 hour drive there and back, but the beach out there was amazing. Far different than anything I've seen in a long time.

My bayside stuff came in the mail today! So much for a pre-order, it came the day AFTER the CD's came out! Pretty lame if you ask me, but hey Victory Records made sure to throw in a catalog so i can waste EVEN MORE money on shit that will not come when its supposed to. Oh well, I'm happy i got it at least. Shudder and the Live album are amazing. I really love the booklet for the live album though, They made a collage of a bunch of fans bayside tattoos in there, it's really awesome.

Anyway, off to bed as it happens to be 4:50AM in this florida bedroom, and my eyelids are feeling a bit heavy. goodnight interweb.

thousands of people died seven years ago today.

2008-09-11T08:53:00.001-04:00

The sad part is that in ten years or so, kids will be saying "What's 9/11?" Just like as a kid i said "What's Pearl Harbor?" Sure, they will read about it in history books, but they will only know of the testimonials from people who can remember exactly where they were, what they were doing on that very morning. Not to get all depressing, but i was just thinking.

Whoa, wireless network detected?

2008-09-10T16:11:00.003-04:00

Haha, i finally got the lynksys software installed on my laptop so i can borrow my mom's wireless card. I was worried about being able to get a decent connection though because the wireless router is at the opposite corner of the house from me, but one of the neighbors must have recently set up theirs because i found an unlocked connection with 2 bars! (Yes, that's something to be excited about.) Anyway, I just wanted to go on here and write a little update. I am watching fuse right now, some show called "Video Yearbook." Basically, they show a bunch of music videos from a certain year or whatever. It's the year 2000 and wow it just went from Blink 182 to Jay-Z. I actually caught myself knowing the words to "Big Pimpin." I'm not sure what to perceive from this, haha. Another thing, I found a leak of Bayside's new album "Shudder." (BTW, Bayside is my favorite band.) I'm soo stoked for this record, but at the same time I want to wait and walk to the indie record store and buy it like i have with their last three cd's. I'm not sure, but i might just hold off and wait. We'll see. Can't wait till Nov. 3rd! :) Okay, that's enough for now.

Spin

Short update.

2008-09-08T13:38:00.004-04:00

So i was watching my moms friends kid on friday, and somehow i lost my wireless card. which typically means me saying "Fuck! no internet!" Ahh this is really gay. Whats not gay though is me typing this on my grandma's mac. :)

Haha so not too much new here. My fucking ear infection came back though. I need to go buy a new wireless card soon. :/

Oh God....

2008-09-04T02:18:00.003-04:00

Can't sleep. It's really nothing new, but I had nothing better to start this one off with. Sorry for the lack of updating on my part. My double ear infection came back a few days ago, and my ears killing me! I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow though, so hopefully this one will go away a little faster than the previous one.

Oh yeah and I finally sorted through the 30gigs of music on my iPod. It's all on this computer now! I'm so stoked, i might just leave the computer on all night for it to sync completely. Anyway I should probably head to bed, I need some sleep. Later!

-Spin

Drained; Jack's Mannequin; Flobots; Trace Of Day;

2008-08-28T08:52:00.004-04:00

Sorry no updates lately, promoting trace of day a whole lot..It's taking up a lot of my time lately. The sound on my computer is fixed! Thanks to my friend Tyler. :) So I've begun trying to recover all of my music back. It's a lot harder than it sounds. I'm attempting to pull 30Gigs of music and videos from my iPod. Not really all that fun...oh yeah and I got to listen to The Glass Passenger! The new long-awaited Jack's Mannequin record. It's really good, I really like the song "Swim" so far. Anyway, the new Flobots album is fucking life changing, even if you don't like rap. That's all I'm going to say about that. Oh yeah and in case you haven't heard The New Trace Of Day EP is up for download on their myspace! :)

I can't hardly hear you

2008-08-25T19:40:00.001-04:00

Maybe that has something to do with the fact that for some reason the sound on my computer hasn't worked since i got it back? Or maybe the fact that I've had a double ear infection since last Tuesday? No way.

Despite my sarcasm above, I really do have a double ear infection, and my sound is really not working. It's been an aggravating day in my house, to say the least. My good friend Tyler is helping me try and figure out what's wrong, so I am thankful for that but for the time being, the joyful feeling that i got when i realized "whoa, itunes? music? computer? I can sync my ipod again? yesssss." has been put on hold. Hopefully I'll figure this out. (In positive terms, that means "god please don't let me need a new sound card.")

Spin

Ps. The show on Saturday was fantastic.

Stuck in the middle...

2008-08-23T16:23:00.001-04:00

I hate being friends with two people who hate each other. They suddenly expect me to pick them over the other person. I really really use the word "coexist" a lot. I do not like being in the middle at all. If the word "torn" had a better meaning to me I would like to hear it, because honestly I don't think there is another meaning.

Anyway, after that thought...Trace Of Day tonight! It should be tons of fun, so we'll see. Although I think their playing with this band whose singer is as short as a fucking leprechaun and takes his shirt off at shows. really lame. Okay, enough.

Later,
Spin

Update!

2008-08-22T22:14:00.001-04:00

So, I've finally got my computer(s) back. Again. It seems like they keep breaking and getting fixed, a constant cycle of loosing everything. And let me tell you first hand, It's getting old really fast. But the second i get enough money saved up (After i finish buying a PS3) I will buy a supercomputer. =] Haha I sound like such a nerd. Oh wait...

So Hurricane Fay has impacted Florida this week, pretty lame if you ask me. We have been so prepared for something like this, and then when we get false alarms it makes people around here underestimate the true power of a hurricane. Before we were even sure of where it was headed, people were saying, "Oh haha it won't come here." Like they somehow knew more than our local meteorologists. But after Charlie, I'm not taking any chances.

(My front yard after Hurricane Charlie, 2004)

So Dean and I are YouTubing again. Some Videos should be up on my channel soon. [Click Here] So watch out for some hilarious stuff, It will be up soon.

Anyway, that's all for now....hopefully i will get those videos edited and on YouTube by Tuesday, depending on where i end up sleeping on Sunday night.

Later,
Spin

2008-08-03T23:58:00.002-04:00

So, I'm writing this on my wii. No more computer in case you haven't heard. Which is really lame. Anyway, I guess this just means more Wii time. Speaking of witch, I'm running out of people to play/talk to via WFC so be sure to leave your friend codes in the comments along with your name. Mine is 2955-3244-9646-9791 So add me!

That's all for today.

-Spin

Hello Interweb.

2008-05-06T14:18:00.001-04:00

Hello.

I'm Spin, but if your here, you probably already know that. This is my first post, and it will be fairly short, i guess. All the stuff to the right is mainly under construction, but I'll finish it all soon. If you are actually reading this, comment. I don't want to talk to myself on the internet. I want it to actually be seen by human eyes. Maybe this will work, I need your input. So comment this!