What's Been Down

Even when I don't add much, my blog still gets views. That's interesting... but enough of that.

First off, I am currently in the process of completing four more exams for the first semester of my last year of high school. I'm mad at the study load, but I love the fact that I'll be done with the Catholic institution for good very soon. Ranting and getting mad over it is repetitive and unhealthy! Not much has come up for me to really go on and on about though. I need inspiration...

Second, my college quest is going on much longer than I wished. Although I was accepted in my school of choice, they gave me a disappointingly low amount of financial aid. My parents can only afford sending me one year before hitting a nasty and high pile of debt. The worst part was that everyone told me to reach for the stars, find the best school and everything will work out fine. No one told me to worry about money UNTIL the cost appeared in bold in my acceptance letter. Thankfully my mom is so practical that she recommended to quit before things got further south.

So after crying for a few days that I had so say goodbye to my anticipated school, we applied to some cheaper one in my state. Oh well. I can still go for the dream to get my Masters. Let's hope the Mayans were wrong about 2012...

In the meantime I'm playing around with the Nintendo 3DS my dad got me for Christmas. It's been a while since I had a system recent enough for me to buy the newest games. The last time I tried, I ended up selling the Wii to my cousin. The games at the time were multiplayer or $60.00 (which to me is way too much.) At the time I got good cash for it, but now that Skyward Sword came out last year... I'm pretty pissed.

Yeah, not my best picture. Whatev.

I obviously refrained from showing off what I got for Christmas since it's what EVERYONE did. But the 3DS is one thing I'm happy to have received.

Things have ironed out a bit, and blogging will return like "usual." Whatever that means. ;)

"WHAT?! You're not supposed to do that!!!"

Reason #99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999991 why Sonic 06 is one of the most hilariously awful games to grace the planet.

(BrainScratchComms)

If only I had a PS3 or an Xbox, I'd buy it just to have this happen. XD

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Music Mood:

("Forces" by Susumu Hirasawa... from Berserk anime)

Pre-'Dark Adrenaline' Impressions

Released Jan. 24, 2012
Century Media.

I missed out on a lot of activities and releases from bands I follow. And when I did focus on music, I spent my energy on what I could call trash. So why not I talk about something I DO like instead? Well... let's try.

Lacuna Coil. One of the many bands that get compared to Evanescence. Sure, I am guilty of it. However, these guys sound far less artificial and are closer to gothic metal. And Cristina doesn't try throw her voice box out of her throat and overshadow her bandmates. I'm sticking to that. Although they did start off as what some consider gothic metal, over time they progressed to an alternative metal. (Many call this "selling out to the Linkin Park crowd.") Probably the best example of this was with their previous album Shallow Life, where the music is energized with self-confidence as opposed to their staple melancholic, atmospheric works of before.

With that in mind, "Trip the Darkness" and "Kill the Light" bring back the familiar formula... while still "selling out."

Less aggressive and in your face? Yep. Though still Karmacode-ized, the melancholic atmosphere and melodies feels like it returns with a softer punch. Shallow Life's positive lyrics were nice, but it's great to hear their old dark stuff again. The song structures sound less like what some predictable pop rock band processes daily. Best of all Andrea's vocals sound cleaner and Cristina's more polished. It took several albums, but they sound much better.

The downside? These tracks sound... bland. "Trip the Darkness" is far more exciting than "What You Want," but it is just as repetitive. What's worse is the music video, in which Cristina tries so very hard to cash in on the Lady GaGa aesthetic with huge white eyelashes and The Fame-esque white hair. Really? I can buy the cat, the black drops in water, the antique clock, and the black and white contrast. But the get-up? *sigh*

"Kill the Light" may not be a single - yet - but it holds more promise. The lyrics sound less simplistic and more like Lacuna Coil. Maybe it's because singles try to make as much noise as possible to bring in more cash. As my art teacher said, "Singles are never an artist's greatest work."

I definitely will pre-order Dark Adrenaline since I trust Lacuna Coil more than some bands I bash here frequently. It sounds like a return to what the band does well while still hanging on to the current trend of teaming up with producer Don Gilmore (Linkin Park, Bullet For My Valentine... see what I mean by "selling out?") But if it's a small re-atempt at evolving or a shot to the foot, I won't know until I buy it.

At least it's not Evanescence.

Because I'm So Lazy...

The big black box still looks hideous on this site, no? Well if justice could crucify and hang the SOPA bill and its supporters, my blog will look lovely again. :)

I know I haven't said a lot and posted a bunch of stuff on it, but I still want to get the message out there that this bill is AWFUL. Sure, I am very biased and if it passes I will lose all the sites I like to visit for fun parodies, straightforward reviews, and exciting shows. But this bill wants to protect the butts of companies that whine and lose money because of illegal downloads and copyright infringement.

I won't deny that I have downloaded some music (mostly songs from anime and soundtracks from Sonic games) but if some of these things were easier to find and purchase, I'd love to take out some cash. I'd love to buy music from artists and bands, but some of them have work not readily available for the poor American. (Even if I were to hunt further, chances are the price would get pretty ridiculous.)

With that small bit out of the way... MORE anti-SOPA stuff! Whoot!

(http://blip.tv/familiar-faces)

...Yo

Christmas break swallowed me whole and the New Year threw me back up. I am still recovering from that adventure.

I'm back! Hopefully this place isn't too empty...

There are like... two posts I need to make up, and at least I didn't say I will post it before the end of 2011. I couldn't finish the "top 10"-ish post because objectively arranging things you have feelings for are not easy. Since it has nothing to do with wrapping up the year in 2011, it'll come out eventually. The second post, however, is and I'll get it out there - late, but up.

I just wanted to step back from my life and say thanks to everyone who followed me last year. By no means am I popular, but it's great to see more and more views per month from people all over the world. Looks like I'll keep this up another year (...when I'm not preparing for college)!


A new post in 2012. happy? :P