Just Move It Up Two Frets

It has been an absolute madhouse with assessment, hence the lack of posts from me. The other is and has been sick, hence the lack of posts from him.

Only two pieces of assessment to go before exams, then I can sit pretty and you can expect more posts!

Besides work I really have not been doing much. Just tv and some Warcraft 3 Exansion (which is almost finished). I look forward to being a little more productive in my down time. That and catching up on more sleep, definitely.

Music wise I haven't been up to much, just working on some theory and key signatures at the moment. Haven't really worked on any techniques at the moment, and as such my playing level has suffered somewhat. I used a pick last night for the first time in ages and I was having some issues playing a harmonised descending lick (the bit at the end of Trivium's solo for Dying In Your Arms), and it's not even hard! Speaking of Trivium, what an utterly shit band. Their record label (Roadrunner) makes them out to be the next Metallica, but they sound like a god awful power metal band from the 80's. Heafy says he plays 8 hours a day to be as good as he is...however I hardly play anymore and I completely own him, and I have a feeling that the other guitarist is 10 times better than Heafy, so I don't know what the hell they're going on about. HOWEVER, the breakdown and solo for that song is pure genius. The lick before the solo starts and the triads in the final measure are devious and it is a crapload of fun to play!

I must also give props to Justin King. Imagine a virutoso player in the style of John Mayer. He utilises the rarely used Dsus4 (I THINK) tuning of DADGAD. He has perfect pitch and his multi fingered tapped harmonies are the stuff dreams are made of. In fact I have resolved to buy an acoustic in the holidays and try to learn one of his songs which I'm sure will be no easy feat. I need to buy his bloody EP...or better yet, release the damn record already Mister King!!!

I feared for the future of Australian music, but last night I heard some acceptable entries from The Casanovas - Born To Run and The Butterfly Effect - A Slow Descent and I am not so worried anymore.

Wow, this is turning into a biggish post, which I am grateful for! There hasn't been a decent post here in a long while (which is my fault, I know).

You want to know who my favourite guitarists are? Eric Johnson, Slash, Marty Friedman, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Kaki King and Justin King.

Eric Johnson is just a freak, and is truly one of the greatest guitarists in the history of the world. His phrasing is brilliant, and when you couple that with his technical skill, it's just pure bliss.

Slash is just a legend. He has this uncanny ability to mix feeling and blues into balls out rock, and for that he needs to be commended. He also has wicked ways of utilising his Dunlop Crybaby just for some extra oomph when it's needed.

Marty Friedman. What a damn genius. Who else could go from being a shredder in perhaps the most technically accomplished band of modern times, to being in one of the best metal bands of all time and then becoming a new age artist? Just freakish improvisation and a perfect ear for melody from this guy. I also love his use of Eastern tones/intervals in his music, and his style of playing has let me open my mind up to more music.

Rodrigo y Gabriela. Let me set the scene. 2 Mexican thrash metal guitarists move to Ireland and play acoustic jazz/flamenco/metal fusion. There you go, ABSOLUTE FREAKS. Rodrigo is the point man, with the rapid licks and devious phrases. However, I feel that with a fair bit of practice, I could be his equal as he is full of advanced techniques. However, Gabriela scares me. With that sexy Mexican accent and her EVIL EVIL EVIL staccato triplet strums and right hand techniques, she makes me look like a bloody emo punk rocker in comparison. I want to buy their new CD and see these two live.

Kaki King - 'Nuff said.

Justin King - I've already explained!

Ahh, so many great guitarists out there making awesome music. Makes me wonder why the music scene lately is so dull. But it'll pick up, just wait for the other and I (and that's a guarantee)! Have a nice day folks.

Curvature

The work has been absolutely insane lately. Let me break it down for you. On Thursday I stayed up till 7am finishing something. Then I slept for 3 hours, until I woke up to hand it in. Then I came home and slept until 7:30pm, classy.

At the end of this week I will receive a take home exam. The week after I have a 2k word academic report due. That same week I have a speech to give to class (that one is all written up at least). The week after that I have a journal to hand in. Then two exams in a short space of time, hooray! There's just way too much assessment at university I tell you.

After some return to near-normalcy you can expect some better posts! Have a nice day folks.

It Was Like That After I Got Here, I Swear

I apologise profusely for the lack of updates but it has been assessment madness south central at uni. I've had 1.5 pieces of assessment due for the last 2 weeks and it will continue till the end of semester. The last 4 days have been crazy, with post 5am sleep times and working a good 7 hours a day on essays and the like. However the heavy stuff is behind me so you can get used to some of the good stuff coming your way soon.

My external HD is almost full and I'm running out of DVD's, so I think I'm going to buy a 300 gig External and throw absolutely EVERYTHING I have on there so I can rest easy (and not have to syphon through all my damned burned DVD's for movies). It SHOULD last me a while, considering my old one was a paltry 80 gig and it lasted a respectable amount of time. I might have to buy a USB 2.0 controller, because my DVD burner on the old comp is only a 1.1 so it takes a good 45 mins to burn a DVD which is not cool!

I suspect the other may be dead, as I have not talked to him in a loooooong time! Hopefully the other shall blog soon. The last essay I handed in I think was a little dodgy, but let's see how that goes...Anyway, you know how it's been with my life, so there's really not much more to add. Have a nice day folks!

Estopped, In The Name Of Love

The cap has not been lifted!! They said the problem has been fixed from their end but no, I am still stuck with shite 7kpbs speeds. There are files I need to download from the uni website which are quite big so this just makes my work impossible. Someone is going to lose their head!

I have been working on a take home exam for the past few days (hence the lack of posts), but it's done and handed in so you can look forward to some big posting in the near future.

I gave an informal guitar lesson to a friend the other day and I was quite pleased. She picked it up rather quickly (despite having long nails on their left hand) and her progress was steady. This got me thinking, I could teach guitar to people for beginners and intermediates. It's not difficult and I would be getting moneyyyy! I like money! Speaking of long nails I've seen this clip of Dolly Parton with her ridiculously long nail extensions playing an acoustic version of "I Will Always Love You" and she was insanely good, fiendish fingerpicked parts and she could actually fret properly with the nails! I for one was shocked.

I keep hearing this awesome dance track which I know is old, on the radio a lot lately. It's this high pitched feminine falsetto with lyrics I can't decipher but damn I want to get the song. This is practically impossible since I know NOTHING about the song. I keep hearing it at 3-5am, when there are no DJ's to announce what song it was called dammit!

The plan is to get some rest in, so I'm off. Expect some good posts soon though. Have a nice day!

Busting A Cap!!!

I'm very annoyed!! As my title would explain, I have been capped (no I have not been killed in a gangland style slaying from East Compton yo), but I mean my ISP has capped my Broadband speed to 7kbps!!! What the hell??! Their logs show that I have done 7 gigabyte in 2 weeks which is IMPOSSIBLE, since I have been at school and a lot of their records show that the times that these occurred were when I was at school. There's also some insane disparities, ie that one record shows that I was somehow able to download 500 megabyte in 25 minutes! Hell, if I was getting those speeds I would stay at home all day and just download things I don't even need. Luckily we called them and they acknowledged that a mistake had been made and they're going to rectify the situation. But damn, if I hadn't noticed, I'd have been pissed because it's mid month and being capped at 7kpbs is not a good way to spend the class free period!

You know hotel rooms aren't really soundproof? The rooms themselves may be insulated and what not, but bathrooms aren't! You'll notice that there are air vents above and blow the ceilings and floor and if you listen carefully you can hear voices from the people in rooms above and below you! How freaky is that? Haha so note to you, don't engage in any salacious acts in hotel bathrooms!

I'm trickling by with the work so I don't feel too lazy which is delightful. Ummm, not much to report. I have a birthday party tomorrow night to go to. I haven't seen this person in years so it should be interesting. That's it for today, have a nice day folks!

You Strike A Smile In Me...

"I open my heart to view the darkness that lies inside,
And inside I see a light in which I can confide,
These hands they have felt the power in her design,
And in your eyes I could feel a kindness I can't define,
So why can't I express myself, like the way I had in mind,
Maybe I'm searching to hard, maybe its something I'll never find,
Wish I could pour my emotions on these four chords that I rhyme,
But to try this hard to find what I already know would be such a crime,
So I'll try not to make things fit, they already do, your hands in mine,
I'll take my thoughts and blurt them out on the line.
I choose life, cause death is blind, and darkness is hard to indentify,
And I need you, and its a thought I can't defy..."


Firstly getting up at 6 in the morning has gotta stop. I'm sick and tired of waking up and having nothing to do, yet I can't sleep in through the day like I would like to. I prefer the nights, but I'm not given a choice at the moment, so I guess its time to make the most of the time that I have. Wow, almost a week of my two week break is gone. Where did it, and what does it mean?? Its a shame that I feel everything means a thing. They should, but sometimes its perceived in a manner that is a crime. For me it means a week closer to when i can break free, and get back to where I want to be. In the arms of home. The thought keeps me ticking, better not explode prematurely.

In the italics is a verse or something of that sort, right now I guess its just a prose piece thats traversing thru my head. I think its easier to identfy what you're thinking about if you write it down on a piece of paper, so there it went. Left is Dulce, the better half of me. Its hard not being with her, things just aren't right. But I'll have to deal with that like I do everything else (I still dont have controll of the universe, but I will I promise you I will!!!).

Another day where I wake up and wonder who the hell I am. Don't you hate it?? Time to deconstruct myself and identify what it is that I really am. Have my favorite band playing on repeat, and trying to figure out who the hell I am (Third Eye Blind, never not wanted to hear their music, my classical solitude music). And what did I realize?? Nothing, I am still the same person I always was, probably with more baggage, but thats about it. People who know me probably know who I am a lot better than I do. I think I'm less honest with myself than I am with other poeple. Should conduct an experiment on myself. (So how would you like to be the genea pig for todays expriment master knaves?? Sure... as long as there are no anal probes to be used....)

Yes, that is right, third eye blind is still rocking my streo as it used to back in 97. Somethings never change, the way I feel about certain things never change. I can choose to ignore it for a while, but I always come back to what is good to me. No one argue that the self titled release was the best album that jenkins and the boys put out. So in remenicent memory, and a song that captured my thought, here is the lyrics for "Thanks a lot"....

THANKS A LOT - Third Eye Blind (1997 Third Eye Blind)

It's all in your mind,
she said the darkness and the light
the clock it bleeds for you,
but you never got the time in right
i woke you up and i slit the throat of your confidence
and we laughed in the night, and i felt all right.

All hands on deck boys'
cause this ship was made to sink
your swabber salutes you now,
but i know what he's thinking
i woke you up and i slit the throat of your confidence
and we laughed in the night,
and it felt all right.

Thanks a lot
Thanks a lot don't even go
Thanks a lot

The clothes she wears mis-fit,
and she's nervous when she speaks
her zombie mom and dad live in a separate house of freaks
woke you up and i slit the throat of your confidence
and we laughed in the night, and i felt all right.

Thanks a lot
Thanks a lot don't even go
Thanks a lot

I'm the one for you
cause i know all the dirty things you like to do
i'm the fear in your eyes
i'm the fire in your flies
i'm the sound that buzzling around your head.

Thanks a lot
Thanks a lot don't even go
Thanks a lot

Go have a listen to it if you get the chance, for some reason this song spoke to me, so I had to put it up. Or maybe I've just lost it?? None are hard to believe. This morning as I sat up having nothing to do, I was looking over my friends blog, and decided that I too would waste some time on blog things. Haha so I did a million of questionares. I had to change some color schemes to make it look good. Sorry, if you guys are pissed off down at blogthings, but it looks better with the layout. Cheers... And here are a few of them. You'll get to know me a bit better thru that. Though, you dont know me one bit if you've never met me... Your loss...

Your Birthdate: September 20

You are a virtual roller coaster of emotions, and most people enjoy the ride. Your mood tends to set the tone of the room, and when you're happy, this is a good thing. When you get in a dark mood, watch out - it's very hard to get you out of it. It's sometimes hard for you to cheer up, and your gloom can be contagious. Your strength: Your warm heart Your weakness: Trouble controlling your emotions Your power color: Black Your power symbol: Musical note Your power month: February

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Your Theme Song is Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd

"There is no pain, you are receding. A distant ship's smoke on the horizon. You are only coming through in waves." You haven't been feeling a lot lately, and you think that's a good thing. The comfortable part is nice... but you should really work on numb.

What's Your Theme Song?

Your True Love Is a Cancer

Why you'll love a Cancer: Cancer's loyal and sincere heart makes your own sensitive heart melt. Caring and devoted, a Cancer will take the lead in pursuing you - and not give up! Why a Cancer will love you: You're laid back enough to deal with Cancer's little mood swings and freak-outs. A fellow homebody, you know how make Cancer comfortable and at home with you.

What Sign Is Your True Love?

Your Luck Quotient: 67%

You have a high luck quotient. More often than not, you've felt very lucky in your life. You may be randomly lucky, but it's probably more than that. Optimistic and open minded, you take advantage of all the luck that comes your way.

How Lucky Are You?

Your 2005 Song Is

Beverly Hills by Weezer "My automobile is a piece of crap My fashion sense is a little whack And my friends are just as screwy as me" You breezed through 2005 in your own funky style!

What Hit Song of 2005 Are You?

Your Heart Is Purple

For you, love is about establishing and developing a deep connection. If it's true love, it brings you more wisdom and inner strength. Your flirting style: Sincere Your lucky first date: An afternoon at a tea house Your dream lover: Is both thoughtful and expressive What you bring to relationships: Understanding

What Color Heart Do You Have?

Your Seduction Style: Prized Object

The seduction game you play is tried, true, and still effective: hard to get. You know that the best seducers turn the tables - and get their crush to seduce them. The one running has the power, and you're a challenge that is worth the chase. You are a master of enticing and pulling back. Giving a little and taking some away. You are controlled enough to know rewards come after a long seduction dance. Even though you want to call, email, or say "I love you" first - you don't! You're style is the perfect mix of hot and cold - so much so that you have many suitors. Think Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany's ... or any of those creepy guys from the Bachelor. You're skilled at inspiring a chase. The real test is picking the person to slow down for.

What Kind of Seducer Are You?

What Your Sleeping Position Says

You have a passion for everything - including sleeping. Outgoing and brash, you tend to still shock those who know you well. You tend to be selfish. You are the most likely type to hog the covers. You gravitate toward comfort and don't like extreme situations.

What Does Your Sleeping Position Say About You?

I have to admit, some of these tests have accurate results!!! Its quite scary what can be told about you by just answering a few simple questions. They already know too much, ok my minions, go out and use the MIB tool to erase everyones memories!!! :P Cheers people.