What I've been working on lately.

CESTODA




Music availabe at:

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Prying open my third eye

"Think for yourself. Question authority. Think for yourself. Question authority. Throughout human history, as our species has faced the frightening, terrorizing fact that we do not know who we are or where we're going in this ocean of chaos, it has been the authorities, the political, the religious, the educational authorities who attempted to comfort us by giving us order, rule, regulations. Informing, forming in our minds, their view of reality. To think for yourself you must question authority and learn how to put yourself in a state of vulnerable open-mindedness, chaotic, confused vulnerability to inform yourself. Think for yourself. Question authority. Think for yourself. Question authority."

Guess who's going on tour this summer!

"Thank you and god-fu**ing-speed"

Only a few days away!!! Woo!!!

Links:
Puscifer Vegas Promo
puscifer.com

"I'D RATHER DIE, THAN GIVE YOU CONTROL!"

Saturday was a crazy day! Waited since 1:00 am until 5:00 am to get Puscifer tickets. Then went home and slept for a few hours. Then had to get a new tire for the car. Afterwards, my buddy and I head over to Planet Hollywood, which was in itself a roller coaster trip. Then I see the last show of the Lights in the Sky Tour in North America. Wow! What a show. Insanely awesome. If you missed it go slap yourself. Here's the setlist:

999,999
1,000,000 (What an opener!)
Letting You
Discipline
March of the Pigs
Head Down
The Frail
Closer
Gave Up (Red and blue lights; aaaahhhhhh!)
The Warning
The Great Destroyer (This was unbelievable to see live!)
Ghosts 21
Ghosts 28
Ghosts 19
Ghosts Piggy
The Greater Good
Pinion
Wish (So awesome!)
Terrible Lie
Survivalism
The Big Come Down
Ghosts 31
Only
The Hand that Feeds
Head Like a Hole

Encore:
Echoplex
Reptile (I'm so glad I got to see this live! Such an awesome, heavy song!)
The Good Soldier
Hurt
In This Twilight

Trent was badass as always. Josh Freese played played the hell out of those drums. And Robin Fink had a great stage presence. Best show of 2008!

Here's a video of Closer:



And here's Trents speech before the show ended:



If you didn't see this show you missed out. I screamed my lungs out, shook my fist in the air, and bowed down before the one you serve. Saturday was awesome.

See you there!

Saturday Dec. 13 2008: Nine Inch Nails final show for Lights in the Sky in Planet Hollywood. Got tickets?




Feb. 13-14 2009: Puscifer first time live (ever) at the Pearl in the Palms Casino.



Dec. 2012: The end of the world.

Big events coming up!

"Why can't we not be sober?"

So last Wednesday I attended a wine signing event in Henderson. I got two bottles signed by Maynard James Keenan, from Tool, and winemaker Eric Glomski. They've been doing these events a lot lately, mostly around Arizona and nearby cities.

I drove clear across Vegas to get to the Whole Foods store in Henderson which I managed to locate without much trouble. On a side note, Henderson is a pretty rich looking city. At least the area I was in. I didn't see any graffiti anywhere and the shopping center I was in seemed pretty high end. There was even a charming, antiquated looking carousel that was in operation right beside the store!

Anyway, upon arriving there was already a long line of people going from the entrance of the store all the way around to the back. I got my place way in the back and worried that I hadn't gotten there earlier. I was relieved to hear event staff tell us that there was plenty of time and plenty of bottles for everyone to get. Alright, now a couple hundred Tool fans/wine enthusiasts and I just had to wait about an hour outside in the chilly November night. They should've popped open some bottles and let us sample them out!

There were seven wines available; some from Arizona Stronghold Vineyard and some from Maynard's own Caduceus Cellars. I made my choices and watched as the line grew longer and longer. By the time I was near the front of the line, people were still getting in line and the event was still scheduled for another hour and a half.

Due to the large number of people, event staff was moving everything along at a fast pace. No cameras were allowed and everyone met Eric and Maynard one at a time. No opportunity for questions. When it was my turn, Eric did most of the talking. He said thanks for being here and passed the bottles on to Maynard who said a simple hello and "enjoy the wine" before I left. Not a big deal; everyone was being passed through and they had a lot of bottles to sign before the event was over. Other than that, I noticed Maynard was wearing a cool orange Puscifer jacket.

I got one bottle of Arizona Stronghold Tazi White. Now, I'm not a big wine drinker but I do like the taste of Riesling wine which makes up 33% of the Tazi according to the description. I'll probably pop this one open some day. Here you can see Eric Glomski's signature on the top of the bottle.


I also purchased one bottle of Merkin Chupacabra, a red wine. The description of it reads:

Our mystery red blend. Think forest, not trees. Think weather, not rain. Stare and the Chupacabra, who dwells in your heart and not in your head, will vanish.

Probably hold on to this one for a while. I should've expected a description like this; it is Maynard.

Maynard's signature:


Now I just gotta learn how to store this wine right. Then open them up for a good reason. Sounds like this wine would go well on a nice trip. :)

Caller number 10

Seeing as how many consider this election to be a historic moment, a lot of us will have personal stories that we'll remember for years. "Do you remember what you were doing the day the US elected Barack Obama as President?" As for me, I wasn't at the voting booths; I took care of that on Halloween. I wasn't watching the news networks keeping up with up-to-the-minute coverage of the election in anticipation of the results. Not because I didn't care; actually, this election day was pretty cool and I'm glad it didn't take long to determine who the winner turned out to be. No, I was standing by the radio with a phone in each hand while I felt my heart beat faster and faster in my chest. There's floor tickets for Nine Inch Nails at stake! I've been at it all day and there's only a few more chances left to win them. Gotta keep trying and think positive!

"I'll be the one to protect you from..."

When I first heard this song I thought "that definitely sounds like Maynard, but I've never heard this before". There was so much visual distraction around me at the time yet this song had me hypnotized! Now I finally thought to track it down with the help of the interwebs. Turns out it is Maynard just in A Perfect Circle form. Now my obsession with finding the identity of this song can rest. I imagined something different when I heard it but the video gives the lyrics another meaning altogether. (Which reminds me; voting ends today.) Anyway, turn the volume up to 11 for this one!

Here's a strange little video that was posted up on nin.com. Some behind the scenes, funny footage. It reminds me a lot of the Closure VHS footage but more of a 'modern', up to date sort of feel to it.

"I feel a million miles away"

Let's talk about Friday. Specifically, Friday September 5th which was the night I saw Nine Inch Nails live in Oakland. Oh man, what a spectacular show. I highly recommend you check out this tour when they come back for a second run through the US later this year. The light show is amazing and the performance by the band was far better than I anticipated.

My trip from Vegas to Oakland was pretty insane but I'll just give you some highlights. It took eight hours to get to the Oracle Arena. That's 500 miles of barren desert, small towns, California hills, farms, and windmills.

We managed to make it to the venue at 7:00 pm and got about seven rows from the front of the stage. After watching the opening band, Deerhunter, I was four rows from the front. At about 9:00 pm the lights went out and the familiar drone of a forthcoming awesome concert began. Now as I heard when I got back to Vegas, there was actually an earthquake that hit Oakland at about the same moment that NIN took the stage. The crowd was going crazy at that point so I doubt anyone felt anything.

So the moment Trent ran onstage for the first song, "1,000,000", EVERYONE pushed towards the front gate. We were packed, jumping around and singing along to the song. "Discipline" and "March of the Pigs" had us all pushing and literally falling on each other. I was glad for the next more mellower songs so I could recover for a few minutes. My hair and t-shirt were already drenched in sweat.

Then during the recognizable beat of "Closer" I looked up and saw Trent singing and shaking a tambourine. Suddenly, he tossed the tambourine into the air and I watched it spin above the crowd. It reached the peak of its flight and started falling towards the crowd. It started falling towards where I was standing. It's coming here!

I stretched my hand as high as I could. I couldn't jump, I was wedged into the crowd along with everyone else. I got two fingers around it! But the tall punk standing next to me also gripped it at the same time with his whole hand. Several hands were now clamoring to get it. Tall punk yanks it down and holds on to it. It slipped right through my fingers.

Then the furious drums of "Gave Up" came on and the entire arena was screaming. I felt my head get hotter and I looked up at the lights. Uh, oh. My vision was slowly getting dark around the edges. I was in trouble. I looked around and instead of people, I saw dark shapes moving around me. I was seeing what Frodo saw when he put on the ring. I knew my eyes were open but I couldn't see the light.

I told myself not to panic and decided I had to get out of the packed-in crowd. I considered climbing onto the people in front of me and have them crowd surf me out of there. But I was already blind and slowly losing consciousness. I faced the people behind me and started to muscle my way to the side of the crowd. I yelled at everyone standing in front of me. "Get outta my way". I pushed and shoved through the people, I didn't care now.

I made it to the side gate and told a security lady I needed some water. I followed her to the small area where medical personnel help out injured concert goers. I chugged down two water bottles and one Gatorade. Immediately my vision came back and I felt my body cooling down. I realized I hadn't drank or eaten much during the eight hour drive. I must have dehydrated from the heat of being in the crowd. Luckily, I hadn't passed out in the middle of the floor. Imagine how that would have turned out.

Anyway, the medics released me and I was back on the floor in time to see the beginning of "Piggy". I got as close as I could to the front but not back into the densely packed crowd. The rest of the show was amazing right down to the last song of the encore.

They played several songs from the extensive back catalog of music and a lot of new ones from The Slip. I loved it. I sang along to "Wish", "Terrible Lie", "The Big Come Down", "Head Like a Hole". EVERYTHING. I was one of the handful of people in the crowd that knew all the words and threw hands in the air while most just nodded their heads and sang along to the radio hits.

And I thought the "With Teeth" tour was awesome. "Lights in the Sky" completely surpasses the last tour with its great visuals and extraordinary performance. At one point during the encore Trent mentioned that he may be turning into "a cranky old man" but he really enjoyed playing that night. Then they played "In this Twilight" in front of a great visual scene and each member slowly bowed out. What a great way to close the show. Go see this band live. I'm getting ready to go again this December!

(Picture from my cell phone of the big NIN lights before the encore.)

Lights in the Sky!

WOW! This show is gonna be incredible! I only have two more weeks to wait before I go see Nine Inch Nails live! I mean, look at this footage. It's insane! And I though the "With Teeth" tour was the pinnacle of NIN's live performance. This new tour goes way beyond that! Look at that light show!! Two weeks!

On stage and on tour

It's always awesome to see your favorite band play live. Especially if they're known for putting on a great show. Talking about this with friends and family I've come up with my list of the top bands I want to see live. You'll probably notice some trends in the ones I picked. Anyway here they are:


"...knuckle deep inside the borderline..."

Tool is one of the best bands out there. Their music has a fearless depth to it and they seem to put a lot of thought into what they do. Tool's albums defy categorization and take listeners through serious and thought-provoking journeys into such areas as spiritualism, awareness, and relationships forged between people.

From what I've been told, their live performance is energetic and unconventional. Tool has always been about the music first and thus their live setup and visuals differ from other bands. This is one band I definitely do not want to miss seeing live. Who knows how many more albums are coming or how many more times they'll go on tour.


"...bow down before the one you serve..."

Yes, I've already seen Nine Inch Nails live in 2005. That was an unforgettable two-hour show and I can't wait to see them again. After the latest album, The Slip, Trent now has a very extensive back catalog of songs and material to choose from for the live show. Not to mention a new live crew with the return of guitarist Robin Fink.

This is one show I definitely recommend. The performance is visceral and energetic and will have you singing along with the band and the entire crowd. You may even witness the bands penchant for destroying instruments and equipment. Get floor tickets and make your way to the front. Your ears will still be ringing hours after you leave but it will be well worth it.


"...searching, seek and destroy..."

So St. Anger wasn't all that great. But Metallica did make some of the best metal albums ever. With a new album scheduled to release this fall, they're already on tour overseas. Just hope the new album doesn't bomb. But, then again, Metallica does have a very large fanbase.
I just want to see the songs played live. Enter Sandman, Unforgiven, King Nothing, all of those. Plus, have you seen the pictures of them lately. These guys are getting old. Who knows how many more albums and tours these grey-beards got in them. In any case, these guys are the masters of metal and I want to see them put on an awesome show.



"...there be no shelter here..."

They're not exactly on tour but Rage Against the Machine are doing some live shows here and there. After supposedly disbanding for some time, Rage regrouped last year and all four members were back on stage. They definitely have a very hard hitting powerful show which I hope to get the chance to check out.




"...aint got no gun, aint got no knife, don't you start a fight..."

After a couple years of no new material, it looks like AC/DC are releasing a new album later this fall. Hopefully this gives me a chance to see this powerhouse live. Everyone knows an AC/DC song or two. Imagine singing along to them as their played in front of you. This looks like it should be such a great and very entertaining show. By the way, isn't that a funny picture of them? Haha!





These five bands are in the top of my list to see. One way or another I have to check out these shows. And of course, there are a couple other groups I wouldn't mind seeing live as well:

Godsmack's debut album is what got me into rock music in general. Listening to "Moon Baby" felt dangerous; I questioned whether I should listen to this. But I held on and got hooked on the sound by the end of the album. Especially when I heard "Voodoo" for the first time. Compared to what I had heard before at the time, Godsmack was like a demon that took hold of my attention and led the way as I discovered other great bands. Seeing them live would definitely be a nostalgic yet amazing experience for me.

One of the other bands I got into a couple years ago was Linkin Park. Say what you will about them, but I thought they were great. Their first album is still my favorite of theirs. Although overplayed, "In the End" was a catchy song. "With You" is one that I still remember by heart. I bet their show would be fun to catch.

Finally, in the "maybe-but-probably-not" category is Led Zepellin. Just because nothing has been confirmed so far and Robert Plant seems to not be interested in touring. All that's been said is there is a possibility of a few shows here and there. Can you imagine seeing them play "Kashmir" live? Or "Dazed and Confused"? Or even "Stairway to Heaven"?! How insanely awesome would that be. But sadly, I think there is a very slim chance of that happening anymore. Not to mention the fact that tickets would probably be near impossible to get and/or afford.

A new song!

I don't know how I missed this. Ghosts 1-4 pops out of nowhere and now this! Luckily, I was listening to the radio at work today and the latest Nine Inch Nails single came on. It's pretty catchy and may signal another direction for NIN. I'll leave it at that and let you hear it as well. Download it here. Now, we gotta wait until May 5th!

Signals and voices

You ever feel that life is telling you to do something? That signs appear telling you to take a chance and accomplish a dream that you've held onto for a long time? That message hit me today when I least expected it.

Actually, I believe I've been seeing these signs more often lately. It's a constant yet subtle voice pushing me towards a certain path. An inner compass of sorts directing me towards a road I've always wanted to travel but for whatever reason I haven't. Every time I hear it, I feel the onset of an adrenaline rush. Maybe this voice has been speaking all along, I've just recently began paying more attention to it.

It's just that today, that voice seemed to be shouting at me. Revealing the elusive obvious. "If you ever want to reach this goal, chase it down now, not later." Now, its midnight and my mind is racing. Fireflies appear and I have to catch them now or watch them drift off into the dark. Again, the phrase "now or never" comes up.

Yeah, I know it's a lot of metaphors. But then again, this really happened to me. I know I'm not a lunatic but sometimes life insists on a crazy risk. I understand this may all seem a little cryptic to you but I've decided to keep this vague. At least for now. I'll explain it a different way.

Imagine you're a writer. Maybe you have a newspaper column or you write book reviews. You're good at what you do and you get paid well to do it. You enjoy your job and practice your craft to get better. This is the path you're on; the one you have prepared for.

Of course, like anyone else, you enjoy other activities. On weekends you like to go hiking. It's your hobby, it's your thing. You're pretty knowledgeable about the outdoors and know good hiking spots.

One day you're driving from work. A large semi passes you on the freeway and on its side is an advertisement that catches your eye. But it's not the product you pay attention to; the advertisement is a photo capturing a giant rock face rising up out of the woods. It's bold and majestic and it's staring at you right in the face. You know, because it's on the side of a large semi. You think about that picture the rest of the day. Because you want to be a rock climber.

This is a desire you've held for a long time, you realize. In fact, you've done it once before and wanted to do it again. You realize that your hikes have provided great views of impressive rock walls towering above the land. You also remember that rock climbing in general has seeped into your writing for some time now. The words "mountain", "challenge", "adventure", and others related to rock climbing have appeared in your articles.

The hiking has been a subconscious attempt to get you closer to your goal of being a rock climber. In fact, you now have a stronger desire to be a professional rock climber. Despite the fact that it would be a radical career change and something that you are not sure you are quite prepared for, you want to do it.

Now we arrive to the point where the path splits into two. On one side you have the path you know and understand continuing on. It's familiar and you can kind of see where it goes. It feels safe. Choosing this path would be perfectly acceptable.

On the other side you have a different path altogether. You don't know where it leads to. You don't feel ready to head in there. Strange yet amazing things can just barely be glimpsed further down this path. It's a little reminder of a place you've always wanted to go to. "What if?" It's enticing but seems to be a somewhat dangerous road. Still, it sounds like a fun risk.

I suppose everyone goes through this feeling as well. Perhaps more than once. It's as if the cosmos are aligning to direct your compass. But how many people do we know actually follow this guide? I want to know whats down the second path.

The image up top comes from this Wikipedia article.

R3M1X3S

So, there's this site you should check out at remix.nin.com. It's a remix community site where anyone can upload their own NIN remixes. Of course, I would have joined immediately after I got the Year Zero Remix album but for some stupid reason I wouldn't get my registration email at my hotmail account. Is it just hotmail messing up? I checked for days and couldn't register or log in to the site. Finally, I re-registered today using my old UW email account and finally logged in!
Now, given Reznor's attitude against the entire music industry and the way music is provided for people, multitrack files for some of his songs are available for download to edit. Another great feature I like is that pretty much any remix posted on there is downloadable. This is great to hear how songs are redone by other fans. But what got me excited is that there is a "Rare and Unreleased" feature playlist on there. Awesome! I mean, there's a few tracks on there that even I have never heard and I've hunted down most of them since 2002! So of course, I downloaded the Butch Vig remix of "Last" and the Aphrodite Mix of "The Perfect Drug". Yeah!

No money but...

I purchased "The Distant Future" by Flight of the Conchords on a recent trip to Barnes and Noble. The only reason I decided to get it is because it was $6. All of these big stores like B&N and Tower Records sell CDs for way too much. I mean, Metallica's Kill 'Em All for $19.99? C'mon, that album came out in the 80s, they should just give it to me free.
When you're low on cash, you end up looking for any deals you can and keep yourself from buying stuff you don't need. That's why I can't stay at Best Buy or Target or Gamestop for too long or I'll want to buy something. In fact, today I had to put down a $8.99 copy of Silent Hill once I reconsidered the purchase. It's a good movie, yeah, but I should just wait on it.
Interesting note on my trip to Best Buy though. They've been selling out of Wiis every Sunday!! According to one Best Buy employee, they get a shipment of approximately 20-some Wii units every Sunday and they sell them all soon after the store opens at 10:00am. Hijole! People are lining up for this already? And it's not even November yet.