Oh what lovely weather outside...

It's cold and rainy and the cold front has made it necessary to medicate significantly. In place of some coherent commentary, I will merely post my latest artistic effort called "Clarity". As usual criticism is appreciated.

“Clarity”

Am I asking too much?
All I want is the time
To find my own directions
To a better place in time
But the fog just isn’t clearing
Could you please show me a sign?
The fluorescent glow of clarity
To torch the ties that bind

I’m blind to the clearing sky
That everyone can see
My vision warped by broken mirrors
Distort the path to clarity

Guided by the spirits
Through the clouds of scattered light
Senses fail to grasp to the meaning
Of the stillness of the night
The more I live my life I find
The more distant I seem
Wandering aimlessly
Through a brilliant waking dream


The lights are on around me
But still I cannot see
Tripping over roadblocks
On the path to clarity

Can you see me?
Because I can’t see myself
Why am I a ghost to me
But alive to someone else
Please guide me through this dream
That’s all I ask of you
But I’m at loss for words
And I’m not sure what to do

Another offensive mascot?

I'm sorry guys. I can't make this stuff up. Approximately a month after the new Houston MLS franchise was named (the Houston 1836), there now appears to be a groundswell to have the name changed. As I heard originally on KTRH this afternoon, groups of outspoken Houstonian (mainly Mexican-American residents of of our fair city) have begun protesting the 1836, not because of its ridiculous nature, but because the year 1836 and references thereto are apparently offensive to those of Mexican heritage (or so it is being reported). Apparently some of the "logic" behind the protest is as follows:

While 1836 was the year Houston was founded, it was also the year of Texas independence from Mexico. Some resident view the name the 1836 also with its star logo with shadow profile of Sam Houston as celebrating the independence and therefore express anti-Mexican sentiments.

I will probably get negative comments for this, but if you are offended by the mention of a year 170 years in the past, I hereby donate my life because, as boring as it may be, it's still better than yours.

Yes the name needed to be changed; however, it wasn't because it offends people but because it sucked.

9 days until the Galveston journey.

More rants to come tomorrow.

Top 15 Albums of 2005

I finally have a couple of moments to piece together the list of my favorite albums of the past year. No details yet. That will happen when I have further time.

15.) Audioslave -- Out of Exile
14.) Our Lady Peace -- Healthy in Paranoid Times
13.) The White Stripes -- Get Behind Me Satan
12.) Hinder -- Extreme Behavior
11.) Theory of a Deadman -- Gasoline
10.) Wideawake -- Not So Far Away
09.) Bloc Party -- Silent Alarm
08.) SouthFM -- Swallowing the Pill
07.) Shinedown -- Us and Them
06.) Black Lab -- See the Sun
05.) No Address -- Time Doesn't Notice
04.) Ra -- Duality
03.) Seether -- Karma and Effect
02.) System of a Down -- Mezmerize/Hypnotize
01.) iSOLA -- Loud Alarms

Ok, that's all for now. More rants to come later.

I need to broaden my musical horizons

I ask those who read this blog (I'm sorry to subject you to it.) please suggest to me some music from around your areas that you think I might enjoy. Over the course of the next while I will finish my 2005 best albums and most overplayed lists. Subsequently, I will post introductions to new reasonably local artists with albums arriving in 2006 as well as commentaries on any suggestions I get in the comments.

Thanks for your assistance with my entertainment.

Disappointments and failures in music of 2005

I finally got the list compiled of my biggest musical disappointment of 2005. The list and my reasoning is as follows:

Dishonorable mention: I can't officially rate a piece of work that I have purposely avoided. However, since the record label in question pushed back new artists; projects that I have been looking forward to for the purposes of it's release, I take great pleasure in including Scott Stapp's The Great Divide here. Wind-Up would you please just release People in Planes or Megan McCauley already?

5) 10 Years-- The Autumn Effect
I know there are still several of you who may be unaware of the band 10 Years. If not for a festival appearance here in Houston and the incessant overplay of their radio single "Wasteland," I wouldn't have either. As I tend to do with band on the first album, if I like the initial single and find the album on sale somewhere I am willing to take chances. "Wasteland", the first 20-30 times I heard it was not a bad song; therefore, I experimented. 10 Years is very much a less-talented Tool knockoff. The CD has 3 tracks which I enjoy surround by 7 tracks that sound virtually identical and less than stellar.

4) Jason Mraz -- Mr. A-Z
Having personally enjoyed Waiting for My Rocket to Come I was looking forward to Mraz's sophomore effort, and the initial single "Wordplay," while not "The Remedy," still added to the anticipation. Sadly beyond "Wordplay" I couldn't get into the flow of anything else and thus it makes the list.

3) Staind -- Chapter V
Many things have been said about the singles from this album. The Buzz lists "Right Here" as the third most popular song of 2005, while a number of wise music commentators, notably Mike and Jeff over on Mike's blog have expressed the sentiment that the second single "Falling" is the much better song. A sentiment I fully support. "Falling" and "Paper Jesus" and good songs but the rest are far below the standards I have come to expected from Staind.

2) Story of the Year -- In the Wake of Determination
I enjoyed Story of the Year's debut Effort Page Avenue. Some of my musical advisors above disagree with me on this. However, I enjoyed their attempted mix of melody and anger. Flash forward to the present day. In the Wake of Determination keeps one of the two aspects but at the expense of the other. I liked the lead single "We Don't Care Anymore" though it was clear that they had taken things to an angrier level. After purchasing and listening to the album in its entirety, I'm still looking for the melodic efforts.

1) Trustcompany -- True Parallels
2002 brought us The Lonely Position of Neutral a strong effort from the Alabama based group Trustcompany. "Downfall" and "Hover" highlighted what was a strong effort. Sadly, In March of 2005 Trustcompany took a major step back with True Parallels. The lead single "Stronger" got only occasional radio play here in prepartion for their Buzzfest XV appearance and then it was never heard again. Their live show was the second most disappointing part of Buzzfest XV behind the set played by Unwritten Law. True Parallels lack the dynamics of the first album sounding virtually the same throughout. Thus it was a failure which resulted in their label dropping them so that they could gain a new start.